Latest news with #CameronLuxton
Scoop
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
ACT Councillors Will Oppose Local Government Climate Activism
ACT Local candidates, once elected, will oppose attempts to manage emissions at the local government level, ACT Local Government spokesperson Cameron Luxton has announced. 'ACT believes the proper role of a council is to deliver core services and resilient infrastructure – not to try to change the weather,' says Mr Luxton, who is at Fieldays today. 'Councils should focus on what they can control, not sign symbolic declarations, publish costly 'climate strategies', or employ teams of climate advisors at ratepayer expense. In practice, ACT Local's policy would mean: No local emissions reduction plans No 'climate emergency' declarations No ratepayer-funded climate junkets No emissions reduction slush funds Emissions disregarded in all consenting and land use decisions Spending based on value for money, not carbon Continued improvement of infrastructure like stormwater and stopbanks 'Emissions reduction is properly handled – and indeed, already is handled – at the central government level, such as through the Emissions Trading Scheme. 'Through the ETS, all New Zealanders, including council decision-makers, are already incentivised to reduce emissions in whatever way is most cost-effective for their circumstances. If a council wants to save on its energy costs by switching to LED street lights or electric buses, go for it. But additional grandstanding over climate action is just an expensive virtue signal. 'In Parliament, ACT is addressing local climate activism with Mark Cameron's member's bill to stop councils from considering emissions in their land use plans. ACT councillors would take this a step further, working to secure majorities around the council to take climate ideology out of councils entirely. 'Ratepayers expect potholes to be fixed, not platitudes about planetary salvation. ACT councillors will focus on delivering the basics well, with less waste and lower rates.' ACT has now completed candidate selection and in the coming days will begin to announce its candidates in territories across New Zealand. Examples: ACT spokespeople are available to offer commentary on any local council's climate plans. Cameron Luxton is at Fieldays, and ACT Climate Change spokesperson Simon Court will be in Auckland. Local climate plans typically have flow-on effects for consenting decisions, staffing, procurement policies, and council assets like vehicle fleets. Councils representing three-quarters of New Zealand's population have declared climate emergencies. Whangarei District Council has declared a climate emergency, with an Emission Reduction Plan which replicated national targets to produce net zero emissions by 2050. Auckland Council has a Climate Plan introduced in 2020 to halve emissions for the region by 2030 reach net zero emissions by 2050. Tauranga City Council has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Hamilton City Council has an ' Our Climate Future ' strategy with goal to reduce the city's emissions by 82% by 2050, and a commitment to 'consider climate change in all we do'. Horowhenua District Council has a Climate Action Plan to 'limit future impacts of climate change by reducing future emissions'. Councils in Wellington, Wairarapa, and Horowhenua have signed up to a joint Regional Emissions Reduction Plan to 'help drive the system change that creates the environment for behaviour change'. Hutt City Council has set a goal of reducing emissions to net zero by no later than 2050. Wellington City Council has a ' First to Zero ' plan to become a net zero emission city by 2050, and has declared a State of Climate and Ecological Emergency. Christchurch City Council has a plan to half emissions by 2030, compared with 2016/2017. Dunedin City Council has a Zero Carbon Plan to become a carbon neutral city by 2030. All of these plans are redundant because emissions targets are set nationally by central government, and behaviour change is advanced via the Emissions Trading Scheme.
RNZ News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
ACT's local govt candidates want to oppose attempts to manage emissions
ACT leader David Seymour. Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro The ACT Party says its local government candidates will oppose attempts to manage emissions at the local government level if they are elected. ACT is standing candidates under the party banner for the first time at this year's elections. If elected, those candidates would stand under policies including: The party's local government spokesperson, Cameron Luxton, said ratepayers were facing costly increases, and councils were getting involved in things they did not need to get involved in. "Councillors will be standing for cutting waste, reducing rates, and keeping councils focused on their knitting, because that is the problem New Zealanders are facing," he said. "Up and down the country, we are seeing massive rates increases that aren't justified, and it's because councils are taking it on themselves to go about declaring climate emergencies and going on junkets overseas." A number of councils around the country have declared climate emergencies, and had put in place plans to cut their emissions by particular dates. Luxton said those plans were redundant, because emissions targets were set nationally by central government, and councils were already incentivised to reduce emissions through the Emissions Trading Scheme. "We have an ETS. It's working, it's got a sinking lid, it prices carbon and allocates carbon into the economy. Anything else they do is just a platitude, it's not actually helping New Zealand reduce its emissions. All it's doing is driving up costs on ratepayers," he said. Last year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told councils he wanted them to " rein in the fantasies " on spending and focus on essentials like fixing pipes and potholes, and picking up the rubbish. The government has also removed wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act, claiming they were leading to rates increases. Labour has said there is no evidence the wellbeing provisions were responsible for rates increases, and one of the primary drivers has been the need to upgrade water infrastructure. ACT has finalised its candidate selection, and intended to announce its candidates in the coming days. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
06-06-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Act fumes at Hastings council's Māori ward videos, mayor says ‘we make no apology' for them
The Hastings District Council says videos of councillors espousing the benefits of Māori wards are a way to prevent the spread of misinformation about them, not a campaign to keep them. Act's local government spokesman, Cameron Luxton, disagrees and says the council needs to stop the rollout of the videos
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Tauranga Rally Urges City Council To Cut Rates Amid Proposed 12% Hike
About 250 people attended a rally at Tauranga's Memorial Park urging the city council to reduce rates. Act list MP Cameron Luxton spoke to the crowd before they marched to The Strand in the city centre on Sunday. Rally organiser Jan Gyenge wanted Tauranga City Council to find $40 million in savings because she said the proposed 12% rates increase was 'unsustainable'. If the council could save $40m it could deliver a 0% residential rate increase, she told Local Democracy Reporting before the event. Gyenge said the rally went well and there was great engagement from the attendees. The crowd stopped outside the new council offices on Devonport Rd and sported signs asking council to 'stop the spend' and 'respect ratepayers'. The rally was not the end but a platform for people to share their concerns, Gyenge said. Last week the council heard from submitters on its Annual Plan for 2025/26. The plan received 968 written submissions and 96 people asked to speak to the council directly. The council would deliberate on its Annual Plan on May 26. Mayor Mahé Drysdale previously said the plan tried to strike a balance between investing in the city and affordability for ratepayers. The council had already found $29m in savings to get to 12%, and was working to find more to get the final number down to 10% or lower. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Hawke's Bay apprentice Fletcher Brown selected for Youth Parliament
A budding Hawke's Bay tradie will swap his overalls for a suit when he heads to Youth Parliament after being selected as the Youth MP of an Act MP. Cameron Luxton, Parliament's only licensed building practitioner, has selected Fletcher Brown, a 17-year-old heavy automotive engineering apprentice from Hawke's Bay, as his Youth MP. Luxton describes Brown as the kind of young Kiwi who gets up early, gets his hands dirty, and adds real value to his community. 'That kind of contribution deserves a voice in Parliament,' he said. Fletcher is currently training through MITO, an industry training organisation supporting on-the-job learning in various sectors, where he is training with a focus on agricultural and horticultural equipment, work Luxton said keeps the region's farms and orchards running smoothly.
