25 September 2026
Disclaimer: I do occasionally use AI, but almost never in any of the text for these Friday updates.
Matthew 10:16 tells us something most politicians can’t be accused of including probably myself too much of the time, but if it comes from God then it must be true: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves”.
Well, well, what about it then. The government has decided to hold off on their Council amalgamation decision until after the election, instead of announcing it this month as originally planned. So I guess instead of scaring the horses at this inopportune moment, they must really want to win this to-the-wire election instead. So touché, bravo and well played Prime Minister Luxon, and I have to admit not seeing that one coming but in hindsight it makes a lot of sense. Politics is a ruthless human game after all, and it takes ruthless types to excel.
Apart from that, what did we have on at Council this week? Nothing! For the first time in quite a while Elected Members had a whole week off, no meetings or workshops or anything at all! I took it as a very welcome break after some of the recent few months tumultuations, and yesterday even managed a bluebird day in the snow. Because this role can suck it out of you at times, and its not for the fainthearted if you want to stay true. Next week is looking a little busier though, and I will rattle off a few of the more important things below:
Northern Access Workshop: Next Tuesday we have the first of our Long Term Plan (LTP) Capital Programme Workshops starting at 10am, where the Northern Access project is scheduled to be discussed (that’s the $80M project for the new Waikato river bridge). It was originally supposed to happen this week, but for undisclosed reasons was deferred. Yes I do have a grievance because just like the Joint Management Agreement and countless other things that happened last term, this Council’s behind-closed-doors modus operandi makes things more complicated than they need to be. Anyway I expect to be finally able to properly table my idea for a three-lane bridge and Waikato Street connection which has been playing on my mind since 2022. Because $80M is a lot of money and its the biggest LTP capital item by far, and guess who’s paying for it: You. By the way anybody in the transport profession like me who have practiced in cities are basically socialists by profession – who do you think decides that for the betterment of everybody, people need to get on buses?
Publicity but only for those more equal than others: Next Tuesday at the monthly Council meeting (read the agenda HERE) I am tabling a Notice of Motion item 5.10 that Council funded media include some coverage for Elected Members. For example you may recall the Councillor Korero inserts which used to be in the Taupo & Turangi Times? They took a required pause during the local government elections of 2025 but still haven’t been reinstated, just why that is the case is still not clear. Not every constituent is digitally inclined or even tunes in to Duncandoestaupo.com, so I think it is important that you get to hear how Elected Members are thinking whether they feel like talking or not. There is also the question of political messaging: I figure that because Councils are political organisations and “politician” happens to be our job description then you are entitled to hear our views, but that is contrary to the previous Taupo District Council guidelines which said “no political messaging”. I want those guidelines changed because if its okay for Mayor John Funnell to espouse on Council media his own political messages, then it should be okay for the rest of us too.
Here’s the solution but where’s the problem? Item 5.4 at the Council meeting is to do with powers of attorney, and like anything legal its convoluted but here my antennae are up. I don’t take anything to do with this Council for granted anymore, and I note my favourite Deputy Mayor gets special mention in this piece. People say in this business we should be free of personal angst, but in a place where accountability is in short supply – what really else is there? Anyway it is what it is, and I have my suspicions. Anybody who is a lawyer out there is welcome to contact and allay my concerns.
Apart from that, what else do we have?
What about that bypass? I forgot to mention one thing from my meeting at last weeks Waikato Regional Council (WRC) Transport Committee meeting in Hamilton – the Taupo to Turangi Bypass running between Hatepe and Motuoapa. This was a project scoped out back in 2017 at quite some expense as you can see with this SH1 Taupo to Waiouru Indicative Business Case (IBC). However the NZTA web page on the close to $1B project more or less sums it up: “has not progressed due to changes in priorities and funding”. But what a great thing when it does get to happen (will be a toll road most likely), estimated to save 14 min drive time and then we get a lakeside road for meandering tourist traffic only (a downside is that Taupo District Council gets to own and maintain it)
Not what they said it would be: Well the Local Government Improvement Bill just got past its third reading, but the Taxpayer’s Union (TU) isn’t too happy because they claim it only strengthens a Council Chief Executives hand to hold on to information that Elected Members seek. Watch HERE for the interview with Minister Simon Watts. Last week I shared a submission of mine to this bill, but I clearly misunderstood because its far too late for that – and if they won’t listen to TU then they wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.
Just good business? Watch HERE for Duncan Garner talking about the trebling of Taupo District Councils rental arrangement with Tuwharetoa which most of us have already heard about, but he is also quite incensed about a culture of information clasping which I can absolutely attest to. Information is generally only released on a “need to know” basis, and this has been one of my major frustrations the past four years. Is it perhaps just a coincidence that our Deputy Mayor is an ex-senior policeman, and that happens to also be the attitude of NZ Police?
Anyway it has stimulated myself to ask some questions, because as far as I was aware the building lease was already a done deal by the time I arrived as an Elected Member in 2022 (and it wasn’t on my radar list of priorities anyway). But I now have suspicions that it actually wasn’t a done deal: What if it was an option to not go through with, but never tabled? It has certainly happened before alright, but back in 2022 I was too green to have a clue.
Because we say so: Far North Councillor Davina Smolders recently put out an interesting post about confidentiality which you can read HERE. As an Elected Member the first thing I always challenge is the need for confidentiality in the first place, because that decision itself can be subjective. The Council staff response can be legitimate, but too often is effectively just: “because we say so”. In addition, some documents are held electronically not shareable including those not deemed “classified”, so feeding it through AI for advice is that much harder – I had a lot of problem with that last term, so far this term things are somewhat better.
Fridays sci-fi premonition of the week: Council Daisy in 2027?
