This is unbelievable. Just days after being confirmed as Minister for Earthquake Recovery, Gerry Brownlee is interfering in the Christchurch City Council and threatening to use his powers to sack councillors who oppose Mayor Bob Parker:
Days after being reappointed, Brownlee waded into Christchurch politics, accusing some councillors of being ill-informed and not supporting Mayor Bob Parker.Sacking an entire council and turning Canterbury into a dictatorship was bad enough; threatening politically motivated sackings of elected representatives in order to make life easier for your political allies is even worse. But apparently its now par for the course for our dictatorial National government."There is a case for some elected members of the council to step up and learn a little more about what is going on than they know at the moment.
"We need to get past the idea that we are waiting for someone else to do it," he said. "I have great sympathy for the mayor. I don't know that he is all that well supported by the council."
[...]
Brownlee said several people had asked him to "sack the bloody council and you guys [Cera] can get on with it", but Cera was not big enough to take over all of the council's role.
"We are a small organisation and you need people who know where things are at."
However, he did not rule out using his special powers to sack councillors or assume some of the council's responsibilities.
