王家委员会(Royal Commission on Auckland Governance)今天终于公布了奥克兰政体改革调查报告。当然我很早就注意到了可能的奥克兰的改革,所以今天下午两点我第一时间冲到委员会的网站上去读最终报告。不过800页还是太长了点,所以暂时只选择阅读summary(可这都有50页),以下是我迄今为止的理解。
Preliminary analysis, which will need to be quantified in detail by the Establishment Board, suggests that adopting the Commission’s proposals for structural change will result in estimated efficiency savings in the indicative range of 2.5% to 3.5% of the total expenditure of the Auckland councils planned for 2008/09 (of around $3.2 billion). This represents estimated efficiency gains of between $76 million to $113 million per year.
不过就现在看来,委员会的建议可以改善奥克兰除开销之外的问题,但无法彻底解决。一个大议会负责几个重要的district plan, spatial plan 和 long term council community plan,可以有效保证地区间政策的一致性。分设的local council也不至于让这个大议会过大,让所有需要办事的人都必须开车到奥克兰CBD。
In addition to the elected governing body of the Auckland Council, local democracy will be maintained through six elected local councils operating within the unitary Auckland Council. Local councils will oversee the delivery of services by Auckland Council staff and will undertake local engagement in four urban and two rural districts. The boundaries of the new local councils will be centred (with some important boundary adjustments) on the existing council territories of Rodney District, North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland, and Manukau Cities, and Franklin District, thus enabling new local councils to utilise existing infrastructure and service centres.
a local representative body, which operates within a larger local authority and which provides services and acts as an advocate for the residents, ratepayers, and communities of their areas.
The management of Auckland’s city centre and waterfront area is not just a local issue but one of regional and national importance. The centre is the hub of New Zealand’s leading firms, the focus of Auckland’s education and science sectors, and of its professional, financial, business, entertainment, and creative activities. Many of the region’s key institutions, such as libraries, universities, galleries, courts, theatres, hospitals, and large businesses are concentrated in this area. Increasingly, it is also being recognised as a desirable place in which to live. It is Auckland’s “shop window” to the world, and a focus for visitors to the region.
我能大概理解这个说法是哪里来的,我这里有(还有),不过和作者说的可不是一回事,作者没有经过任何查证就在想当然。另外下次再有反动份子说外国的月亮比中国圆时,我能找到论据了,因为这句话中,作者好像就是把英文谚语“grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”翻译回了中文。太崇洋媚外了,我们明明有“外国的月亮比中国圆”,有中国话不用,偏要用外国话。
作为国营媒体的TVNZ,虽然其前身是根据BBC模式创建的NZBC,但现在他和BBC有着本质上的区别,因为没有收视费,TVNZ的电视台上(6,7台除外)是带广告的,也需要通过广告和商业节目赚钱。这也就是说,TVNZ需要在国家党最喜欢的说的“Real business world”的环境下生存,而且给自己的股东付分红。
From the Crown’s point of view we have $200 million invested in TVNZ, that’s the equity in TVNZ, if we don’t receive a return on that equity and we don’t receive a dividend, that’s less money the Crown has to pay for hospital beds, less money it has to pay its doctors and less money it has to pay its teachers.