Hide's 'secret agenda' exposed

Rodney Hide's 'secret agenda' has been exposed in a recently released Cabinet Paper EGI (09) 44. Hidden amongst the usual innocuous statements of 'reviewing', 'disclosing' and 'considering' are three items that cause concern. The first is that contrary to most of the public, Mr Hide sees that the "rarity of party organisation" in local government is seen as a weakness (p.5) . This explains his strong desire for having eight councillors elected at large.
The second area of concern is the obvious omission of libraries, parks and Reserves and other community amenities including leisure centres and halls from his list of "core services for local government" (p.4). One would not normally be concerned that these could be offered for sale except for a discreet comment on page 8 advocating the removal of "constraints on the use of the private sector to deliver local government services" and to "advance the Government's policy agenda". Of course, there are other areas in the document which are also concerning but the public will have difficulty expressing their views as the last page notes that "no public discussion document is proposed on these proposals as public views are well known". Oh really?