1 August 2025
Wow, what a past few weeks it has been in Council. Joint Management Agreement (JMA) antics have been happening all over the place (helpfully stirred up by yours truly), with candidate nominations for the October election closing midday today. A rule of thumb is apparently to never have major decisions like the JMA happening this close to an election, but I can see both sides to that argument – on the one hand it will be fresh in voters minds to hold existing Councillors directly accountable, but on the other you might see some distorted decision making for that very same reason. I believe we probably saw some of the later at play yesterday, and of the former we will just have to see. And I bet Mayor David Trewavas is now wishing he had emulated what Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark did , and used his executive power to defer the decision well before it came to a head yesterday.
Anyway, let’s rattle through some of the week’s happenings:
JMA finally over…for now – I’ll be posting a fuller report next week, but for now can tell you that the JMA decision has been deferred for the next Council to grapple with after October. But it was a packed Chambers with members of the public spilling out the door even half an hour before proceedings, and it was a close decision indeed. I recommend watching the 17 min public forum of Topia Rameka (former CEO of TMTB) and Mayoral hopefuls Zane Cozens and John Funnell – with Zane’s message being right on point about this saga being 100% a problem of Councils own making. Full proceedings which lasted over 90 min are here.
Basketcase of Democracy – At yesterdays meeting the new Water Services Plan was also adopted by Council, myself being the only dissenting voice and substantially on a matter of principle:
“If these Council Chambers weren’t such a very much less than model of Democracy, I would have been given opportunity to express my own views in the so-called final debate on 24 June which lasted all of 20 minutes. Those were that a well-constructed Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) would probably have a better chance of being transparent and accountable to ratepayers, than the current very un-transparent and opaque in-house set-up that as far as I can tell is largely set to continue”.
Fewer road cones, or else – NZTA have developed a new guide to reduce the cost of traffic management and will start penalising Councils who don’t adhere . For those after a little more detail, see here.
Too late I’ve burnt my bridges already– Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden proposes a bill to raise the current maximum allowable value of business dealings between a Councillor and their own Council from $25K to $100K.
Lawfare? Erika Harvey of Lobby For Good argues in this 30 min interview that nowadays you need to be wealthy to be able to influence your local Council. I reckon that is absolutely relevant for here in Taupo, and people who can’t afford to get lawyered up can be at their mercy – including elected members.
Head to head in Rotorua – The Rotorua mayoral race will be an interesting one I think, and from my observations Mayoral candidate and existing Councillor Robert Lee stands a more than fair chance against current Mayor Tania Tapsell. Watch this recent 10min interview where he talks rates, Iwi partnerships and his mayoral bid.
Not for me, this time anyway – After much reflection – and encouragement both to run and not to – I’ve decided not to stand for Mayor. My priority isn’t the chain of office, it’s protecting the public interest and making sure the next council serves the people and not The Machine. I believe that goal is best served by returning as an elected councillor – free to speak plainly, collaborate strategically (possibly could try a little harder at that), and ensure the next Mayor, whoever they are, is held to account by someone with their eyes open and sleeves rolled up. If one of the current leadership gets voted in then I know my job will be that much harder, so I am hoping one of the other Mayoral candidates Zane Cozens or John Funnell is successful.
What’s my whakapapa? For those interested, my forefathers arrived in New Zealand in the 1850’s from Scotland following the Highland Clearances, and came in a large group led by a Reverend Norman Mcleod first to Nova Scotia then onto Waipu. My grandad Dick Campbell had a very illustrious career as a public servant, economist and diplomat with notable achievements including: saving the NZ economy during the Great Depression; negotiating trade deals with the Soviet Union; and roles as first chairman of the Public Service (1946) and acting High Commissioner to London (1958). He was also instrumental in the planning of the controversial New Zealand House building in Haymarket, London which opened in 1963. And he had a great sense of humour, just like me.
Friday funny: Getting information out of Council shouldn’t be like this but it sometimes unfortunately is:
duncandoestaupo.com 