Taxpayer Talk: Nick Clark and Jordan Williams on why council amalgamation could make town halls even worse

Taxpayer Talk: Nick Clark and Jordan Williams on why council amalgamation could make town halls even worse

May 25, 2026 · 1h 4m

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of council amalgamation in New Zealand and its potential drawbacks.

In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by Nick Clark from the New Zealand Initiative and Jordan Williams (Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director) to break down the Government’s plan to slash New Zealand’s 78 local authorities down to as few as 15. They explain why bigger councils do not necessarily mean lower rates, better services, or fewer bureaucrats — and why amalgamation could actually make local government less accountable, less local, and even more expensive. From the ...

People in this episode

Host: Peter Williams

Guests: Nick Clark, Jordan Williams

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New Zealand Initiative, Taxpayers’ Union

Places: New Zealand

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