The filibuster is over. Earlier tonight the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill passed its third reading. Meaning that Auckland is now a dictatorship, its elected local government subject to the whims of an unelected oligarchy answerable not to the people of Auckland, but to the Minister of Local Government in Wellington.
Now the question is which clique of dead white male suits Rodney Hide will appoint to run the place in his name. And whether he will attempt to stack the 2010 local body elections even further by appointing John Banks as dictator in the hope of giving him the advantages of incumbency.
This is a sad day for local government in New Zealand, and it is a sad day for our democracy. But hopefully National will pay a price for it.
