"For 40 years, NZers have been told that fewer councils mean better government. For 40 years, the evidence has refused to oblige."

"For forty years, New Zealanders have been told that fewer councils mean better government, and for forty years, the evidence has refused to oblige.

"Until 1989, New Zealand had around 850 elected local government bodies. ... That year, the fourth Labour government swept it away. Two hundred and forty-nine city, borough, district and county councils became 73 territorial authorities. Most special-purpose boards were consolidated into 13 newly established regional councils. The reform was justified solely on theoretical efficiency grounds. No serious case was made that the bodies it abolished had been doing their jobs poorly.

"In 2010, John Key's National government did it again. Eight Auckland councils became one [super-sized bureaucracy] governing 1.8 million people through 20 councillors and a mayor. The same efficiency case was made. A 2025 analysis by TDB Advisory found that Auckland Council's real per capita spending had risen 34 percent in the 15 years since the reform. ...

"Between 2017 and 2023, the Ardern-Hipkins Labour government extended the pattern across other sectors. Twenty District Health Boards, each with elected members, were rolled into Health New Zealand in 2022. Sixteen regional polytechnics were merged into Te Pūkenga in 2020.

"Three Waters would have consolidated the country's drinking water, wastewater and stormwater functions into a small number of regional water services entities. More than 30 mayors organised against it, and the programme was reversed at the 2023 change of government.

"The pattern crosses party lines, with both Labour and National making the same kinds of moves with the same lack of evidence.

"Last month, the current government announced the next round, called ‘Head Start.’ RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts gave councils three months to put forward their own merger proposals or have mergers imposed on them. Again, the justification is efficiency-in-theory. And once again, hard evidence that efficiency will be achieved in practice is lacking.

"Forty years of this trajectory have produced predictable results. ... "

~ Nick Clark from his op-ed 'Why 40 years of council mergers have failed to deliver'