I’ve just finished reading a report to the State Services Commission, by the former chief executive of the Auckland Council, Doug McKay. The McKay report was completed late last year, but had been closely-held by govt officials and only released in the last few days. The complete report can be read here. I’ve listed below some of the comments, facts and revelations I thought were interesting.

The Super City Council is the largest local authority in Australasia, with about 10,000 employees. While it has the same powers and functions as other councils in New Zealand it has significantly greater scale and capability, with an annual budget of approximately $3 billion and assets of $37 billion.

There is an estimated 90,000 State servants in Auckland. Of these, over 9000 are staff of Public Service departments

About 34% (1.5 million) of New Zealanders live in Auckland. It is expected that 60% of New Zealand’s population growth to 2031 will happen in Auckland. On this basis Auckland will grow by 415,000 people (a population the size of Wellington) by 2031.

Auckland’s increasing diversity will challenge social cohesion. In ten years more than half of Auckland’s population will be foreign born.

Europeans make up only half of the Auckland population compared to three quarters in the rest of New Zealand. Asian and Pacific people comprise a larger share of the population than do Maori. 65% of New Zealand’s Pacifika community lives in Auckland.

It is estimated that the Asian population of Auckland will grow by 130,000 in the seven years to 2021. Asians are projected to comprise half of Auckland’s population growth in the next twenty years, and Pacific people 22 percent. Auckland is a Pacific Rim city, and an Asian one.

Almost 40% of Aucklanders were born overseas (the third highest rate in the OECD). One third of Aucklanders speak languages other than English, and many maintain active connections to their places of origin, including sending remittances home.

Almost one quarter of Auckland’s workforce are employed in foreign owned firms. It is the main destination for international migrants and generates 63% of the country’s international education earnings.

… ethnic diversity can increase social distrust, crime and lead to discrimination, division and, ultimately, unrest. The result of poorly settled migrants can be generational cycles of social cost and lost economic opportunity. There are signs now in Auckland of increasing discrimination of recent migrants from Asia. As a result, they withdraw back into their communities. Should this continue, there is the potential for Auckland to become increasingly segregated.

Auckland is home to the majority of 15 -25 year olds without NZQF level 4. One third of young people in Auckland are underqualified.

With 512,000 people, the Counties Manukau District Health Board area of South Auckland is 30% of Auckland and 11.5% of the total New Zealand population, larger than the second largest city in the country (Christchurch at 341,000). 35% of the government’s non-pension welfare payments are made into this area.

Pacific peoples comprise 35% of the population in this area and Maori 18%. Almost 14% of the population is Indian. 25% of the population is under 15 years old. In some south Auckland communities up to 50% of the population is under 18 years old.

South Aucklanders of all ethnic groups have a much lower rate of secondary school NCEA level 2 attainment than their counterparts in the rest of Auckland or New Zealand.

Unemployment is estimated at over 11.6% of the labour force (compared to 6.4% nationally). 22% of households live in crowded conditions. There were 77 new cases of Acute Rheumatic Fever in the Counties Manukau area of south Auckland in 2013, the highest rate of any DHB in the country by a factor of four (there were none recorded in Southland).

The Southern Initiative (TSI) is a major initiatives developed as part of the Auckland Plan. It seeks to improve the quality of life of 275,000 residents of the western and southern parts of South Auckland, of whom 25% are under 15 and 75% are non-European. It has a range of targets and actions for improving education, employment, housing, transport and health outcomes.

Being a white NZer of European descent who has never taken a cent in welfare, I just have to shake my head at the above, and think “who is responsible for such bedlam being visited upon us”?

The answer is the same as it always is. The people who did this are socialist/ progressive politicians from the National and Labour parties, and they are behind every problem that assails this country.