Who Broke My City: What’s behind National’s war on councils?

National said urgent changes to local democracy were needed to lower costs and fix the basics. Then, just two months out from an election, it abruptly halted its council amalgamation plans, deferring decisions until after the election.

So what's going on here? What's really driving the reforms, and who stands to benefit?

Christchurch City Councillor Nathaniel Herz Jardine and Wellington City Councillor Sam O’Brien take us on a crash course through rates capping, the urban-rural divide and the politics of local government. Are National's reforms straight from the Federated Farmers wishlist? Are city-dwellers about to lose control over the water they drink? And why do rural interests wield so much power in local politics?

This is the first episode of Who Broke My City, a new series from Public Interest in which we explore how local government really works, who's calling the shots, and what it would take to fix our cities.