Local MPs Reuben Davidson and National’s Hamish Campbell have weighed in on council reform, unelected voting rights, bereavement leave and whether Selwyn and Waimakariri residents should pay to enter Christchurch.

The discussion followed comments from Christchurch Councillor Sam MacDonald, who said residents from neighbouring districts should face tolls if their councils refused to merge with Christchurch.

Davidson said the comment spoke to how councillors viewed central government.

“I think what we’re seeing is an increasing sense of frustration from our locally elected councillors and regional councillors, because central government keeps stepping in and wanting to restructure this and restructure that and really get involved in local decision making.

“If you’re an elected councillor, that would be immensely frustrating.”

Campbell defended MacDonald.

“I think Sam is an excellent councillor and I think he does think about things very deeply.

“I think the point he was trying to raise is that some of these boundaries are quite arbitrary.”

Campbell saw it differently on where the push was coming from.

“It’s actually about local councils deciding how they are going to run and how they want to amalgamate, not anything from the top down.”

He turned the criticism back on the Opposition.

“It’s really rich coming from Labour.

“We look at their Three Waters proposal, which was trying to jam one entity over the South Island to control some of the council functions.

“This is far more democratic. We are asking councils to put together some proposals that they can then work together on across the country.”

Campbell said the process was not starting from scratch.

“Some of these councils have already been thinking about this. They’ve already been talking about it.

“The first step is actually putting together a draft proposal, how they think that it may work.”

He said there was no time to lose.

“Yes, we do need to get things moving because otherwise it’s going to be another electoral cycle, and during that time rates are going to continue to increase and the needs for infrastructure are going to continue to grow.”

Asked whether amalgamation would reduce rates, Davidson was unconvinced.

“Not necessarily.”

He saw a contradiction in the Government’s position.

“If you’re pushing a rates cap on local councils, I’m not quite sure how that’s letting councils do their own thing either.”

Campbell pointed to the numbers.

“We have 11 councils here in Canterbury for about 600,000 people. That’s one council for every 55,000 people roughly.

“Of course some of those councils are as small as having 5,000 people, 8,000 people.”

He said councils were doing too much.

“It’s about actually making sure we remove some of this extra bureaucracy and actually focus on core functions.”

Campbell defended the cap.

“It’s actually about making sure we can keep rates rises, which we’ve seen huge increases over the last couple of years, far above inflation, that they’re under control.

“We’re saying councils, you need to focus on core functions. We want you to be efficient, just like we expect every other sector of New Zealand to be efficient as well.

“In effect, council have a monopoly, so we want to make sure they are working efficiently.”

Asked whether he supported a Christchurch super city, Davidson would not be drawn.

“I think it’s an interesting conversation, but I also think the way the conversation is had is really important.”

He said the 90 day timeframe for councils was tight.

“I know from working in local government that processes and good decision making takes quite a bit of time within local council.”

Davidson said the exercise was a distraction.

“All of the resource within the council that would ordinarily be going to running the council or staying on top of the council’s work is now going into coming up with the proposal that will go to central government.

“It seems to me like a really unusual way to go about the process, and it risks slowing a whole lot of stuff at council down.”

The MPs were also asked about the Government’s move to stop unelected people from voting on council committees.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts has said the change would restore democracy and accountability.

Davidson saw the same pattern again.

“It’s further meddling from central government into local government when it suits them.”

He said it was not what voters were asking about.

“The people I talk to are worried about getting fuel in their car, getting groceries in their supermarket trolley, and whether they’re going to earn enough to be able to pay their rent or their mortgage.

“They’re very confused as to why central government has this obsession with interfering with local government.”

Asked directly whether he supported the legislation, Davidson said no.

“I think there were some really positive decisions and processes that came out of a broader decision making process at local council.”

Campbell backed the change.

“If you’re spending ratepayers’ money, you actually should be accountable to the ratepayer for that.

“It’s making sure that the people that are spending the money are accountable to the people, to prevent costs just absolutely skyrocketing.”

The MPs also discussed a petition launched by Christchurch mother Sheena Hemens, who is calling for minimum bereavement leave to increase from three days to 10 after losing her daughter Lauren in a car accident.

Campbell responded with sympathy.

“Your heart goes out to any parent who’s lost a child, and actually any family that’s lost a close family member.

“It is a very traumatic time.”

He said the petition would go before Parliament.

“It’ll be great to have those discussions because I think it is something that is probably one of the worst things that can happen to a family.”

Davidson paid tribute to the family.

“I just want to acknowledge the loss that’s brought this to the fore, and the bravery and the beautiful legacy really of her daughter in speaking to this and the impact that it has.

“Three days wouldn’t be enough for anybody to go through the grief process involved with losing a child or a very close family member.”

Davidson said the responsibility did not sit with the law alone.

“I’ve had firsthand experience of loss in my life, but I’ve also had experience as an employer when you have people in your team who really unexpectedly or expectedly lose immediate family.

“There was a lot of empathy and compassion that we were able to show to those people to enable them to have the necessary time.”

He said no statutory minimum would ever be adequate.

“Three days is not enough to get over that. 10 days is not enough to get over that.

“Sometimes it’s about working directly with your employer to come up with a solution where you have the necessary time away from work, but also the adjustment time beyond that.”

The discussion ended on a lighter subject, after an Ashburton Powerball player won $28.2 million.

Davidson said if he lived in Ashburton, he would put money towards adding a curve to the road between Ashburton and Christchurch.

He said his winnings would go two ways.

“I would probably pay off the mortgages for my family for their various homes that they live in, so that they could be mortgage free.

“I would want to set up a fund that could support young people to move into careers where they are innovating and creating amazing new inventions, products and designs and great jobs here in New Zealand.”

Campbell took the opposite approach.

“I don’t think I’d tell anybody.

“Definitely pay off the mortgage, and I think probably there might be a sneaky motorbike or two purchased.”