Fridays Ending and Still Pending

17 October 2025

Okay it’s been a tumultuous election alright, and some good things have happened. We have a new Mayor (yay) who is pledging to cap rates at inflation as much as possible, and he also believes in proper representative democracy of the people and at the Council table. Good. Let’s see how many towers have to fall to make that happen.

On the other hand, we still don’t have the final results and six candidates are still waiting until possibly as late as next Wednesday to find out if they are in! I get that there may have been some late voting going on, but it seems to me that the contractor we employ to do these elections Electionz.com may have understaffed themselves – and I have a few uncomplimentary to words to say about them further down. To put into some context though, this was a fairly unique election in the history of New Zealand local government, and my own relatively puny electoral efforts of 2022 would undoubtedly not have sufficed this time round. Maori wards took a tumble, but I reckon that isn’t such a bad thing for everyone including Maori as I have previously mentioned.

Not to speak too highly of myself, but I would myself have been a little surprised to not get re-elected given all my efforts to make it more transparent the past few years. However, I would not have been entirely disappointed because I know there are going to be some hard yards ahead. So I thank those who voted for me and feel both a sense of privilege and perdition.

Otherwise the make-up of the rest of Council doesn’t seem to have substantially changed, which I find somewhat intriguing. Because although a clear mandate for change has been delivered by voters for the top job at Taupo District Council, this hasn’t been much followed through for the rest of Councillors. I still find the vagaries of voters hard to understand, and feel for those unsuccessful candidates who put so much effort in trying to insert themselves into what seems to be an exclusive club once you’re in. In any case, I am optimistic that from this day onwards Council Chambers will be less of a banana republic school playground than before.

Okay so this week we also have:

Money does matter: Michael Laws of The Platform On The Rout Of LGNZ Mayors reckons these next three years of local government could be the toughest ever – and I think he could be right. LGNZ President and Mayor of Selwyn District Sam Broughton was quite convincingly chucked out of office and acknowledges it was all about rates increases that his constituents would accept no longer.

I reckon that Michael is quite probably on the right track but not entirely, when he says:“The only way that you can reduce rates in this country is to cut local government staff”. I also want to know how much we pay consultants and contractors, and have come across indicators that this Council pays out quite a lot compared to others. Because only together can that metric be properly weighed.

How did he do it? Most unpopular Mayor in the country (according to the Taxpayer’s Union) Gary Petley of our neighbouring South Waikato seems to have slunk back in again just barely, and because of scattered opposition. Assuming these results are final, poor old South Waikato for the next three years then and hopefully the opposition will get a little better organised for 2028.

Minority influence: Political commentator Pee Jay, unpacks the Tiriti o Waitangi section in the proposed new Code of Conduct for elected members of local government, saying: “This “Code of Conduct” is nothing but a Trojan horse for further race-based privilege, influence and, ultimately, control afforded to Maori!”. Read it yourself here to see if you agree with his summation.

From on high: Christine Rankin gives her take on re-election on this Platform interview. She presents much better than someone like me, so I am glad voters decided to give that lady a job.

Thanks for turning up at all: Political commentator Chris Trotter says it is surprising that so many voters bother turning up to local elections at all, because many believe it is Council bureaucrats who decide things anyway. I reckon people aren’t so stupid, because that impression is very largely true. That is why my 2025 Campaign Priority #2 is to: Take Back Control of Council, and this term I will be doing my best to make it happen.

Electoral antics continue...It occurred to me quite recently that it is not out of the question that some voter fraud could have been occurring via theft of voter papers from letterboxes. So I decided to ask Warwick Lampp of Electionz.com our contracted provider, who confirmed that submitted Special Votes would override any posted ballots. I subsequently asked to receive the data for any such double-ups by ward, to see if there were indications this could have happened. This was Warwick’s unexpected and tiresome response:

“These details are a part of my Electoral Officer reconciliation process for every council’s final result process, which is not publicly available, nor discoverable. It is part of my internal process as EO, and is not provided to the Council. The person to enquire to about this is me, and only me. FYI, I have reminded you many times already, the Electoral Commission has no oversight of council elections, so there is no point you enquiring of them. If you do they will refer you back to me. Likewise, I am not subject to LGOIMA, so no point in sending me or the council a LGOIMA request”.

How is that a contractor to Council seems to think that the normal rules of consumer or electoral transparency doesn’t apply to them? For my response to Warwick which I batted back you can read here, and I say it is no wonder that there are urgent calls for the Electoral Commission to undertake these elections directly. To be continued…

Corruption of Council can happen to YOU: Here we have Selwyn Huts in Selwyn District near Christchurch, where a united community and a determined councillor secured a 30-year lease extension after years of costly wrangling and showing that constant vigilance of your Council is essential. Some more info on this topic is available here.

Meanwhile things are looking decidedly dodgy over in…New Plymouth where outgoing Mayor Neil Holdum slipped straight into the top job at their new water entity, and all apparently decided the day before the election. The New Plymouth District Ratepayers Alliance are not very happy with Taupo export of a Chief Executive Gareth Green who was heavily involved (also recall the GST on rates blunder), and are riling up natives for a voluminous complaint to The Ombudsman about it. I say good luck with that, because my own experience with The Ombudsman is that they invariably guard the best interest of bureaucrats like themselves above all else.

Rates set to surge ahead, unless…The right people stop it happening. The past three years Council rates have surged 2.5 times inflation nationwide so says this article by The Centrist. Yet another reminder (as if we should still need it) that someone has to draw the line in the sand and not budge on it. Is our new Mayor up to the task? Only time will tell.

Community first safety second: Recently re-elected Waitakere Ward Councillor Ken Turner gets out and about clearing some drains and without the road cones palava, reminds me of the old days when I had to duck a few passing cars in my time and it never did me any harm. Is this the sort of thing we expect Taupo Councillors to get up to as well?

Good catch: Former building designer Lucy Walsh fined $10,000 for forging documents for Central Otago dwelling . Sounds like Central Otago District Council were doing their job before things got too far, wish that could have happened in Taupo a couple of years ago…

Low mow option: Wellington trials reducing mowing schedules for less used parks and reserves can save money and improve biodiversity too. What a wonderful initiative, and I reckon we should think about doing the same here. And whose idea was it to cut the grass anyway, surely not those English settlers?

Don’t end up like England: As Sophie M Smith’s latest piece on protecting this land intends to tell us. I think it helps that for one thing we have a large ocean between us and other nations, because illegal migration is one of the big issues faced by places like the UK. We also need to remember that if it weren’t for the English we would not have things like Common Law or property rights, and this place would have been a whole lot worse if colonised by the French or anyone else for that matter.

Also recall that it was the Royal Navy which enforced the end of the slave trade on the high seas in the 19^th century entirely at their own expense, and for which the world owes a great debt. For these things we should not be forgetful or ungrateful. Yes do lets’ guard this place of ours called New Zealand / Aotearoa or whatever we want to call it, and right now I see the threat is not so much from without but within.

Could be a lot worse, we could be Hamburg: I have been subscribing to an anonymous German academic blogger named Eugyppius for about five years now, and his prolific writing has been inspirational. His latest piece you can read with the title speaking for itself as to its bent: Climate lunatics in Hamburg pass referendum committing Germany’s leading industrial city to deindustrialise completely in 15 years . I reckon New Zealand has been headed down the same nutty path for quite some time now, but hopefully we will learn from the painful lessons experienced elsewhere like Hamburg before we go as far.

Day course on the Treaty of Waitangi this coming TUESDAY if anyone is interested, I am sure there will be more points of view than just this presenters but you can attend for just $30 if you like.

Friday funk of optimism: The lyrics are about a city after dark so have nothing in common with the music video or even Taupo, but it’s inspirational enough for me:

Friday’s Flickering Fantics

3 October 2025

Councillor Duncan here with just eight more sleeps until ~~Christmas~~ Election day, and things certainly feel as if they are winding down. Even though only as of yesterday only 27% of eligible votes have been received, going from past years we are probably around halfway there already. I don’t believe there are any more official candidate events planned, but in the meantime you can still visit my Campaign page here to remind what I am standing for (probably I should from time to time also).

This week of Councilly happenings we have:

Candidate dropped for being Jewish: Takapuna local board candidate Karin Horin was dropped from her ticket after some of them were receiving unsavory messaging about her Israeli background (i.e. because she believes her country of origin has a right to exist). I think if that is the way her team members choose to behave then Karin is much better off without them, but it is a fairly sad indictment on her adopted land of New Zealand that Kiwis can be so easily intimidated.

Shaking more sense out of a baby: You know, I think this government isn’t doing so bad after all. Recall a fortnight ago I reported to you about its introduction of some commonsense solutions for rural water suppliers, and a few weeks earlier about the initiative to reduce road cones (with New Plymouth recently being commended by the Minister)? Now we have this recently announced government shakeup on earthquake-prone buildings, with the Ruapehu Mayor quite excited this will also include the Chateau. Anyway, it looks like smaller provincial Councils in particular won’t be having to kill their towns to save them quite as much as before.

Ratepayers Pledge signatories still lagging: I find myself repeating here, but signatories are still very few and far between for Taupo candidates as you can see for yourself here. Thus far for the capping rates to inflation issue we have only Zane Cozens, John Funnell, Ann Tweedie, Rebecca Stafford (update to web page pending) and myself. On the other side of the fence, Taupo ward candidate Rachel Shepherd managed to get some free publicity in the Taupo & Turangi News this week after someone stickered one of her billboards right outside her own house (who would be so bold?), and Mayoral candidate Kevin Taylor keeps portraying that capping rates to inflation are a pipe dream. So whatever happens then, it is looking like an uphill battle to keep our more vulnerable people in the community off the street in times to come.

Pot of gold in Rotorua? Rotorua Mayoral candidate Robert Lee gets harassed by Mayor Tania Tapsell and a one-sided audience for being just a little too conservative in a candidate debate last week. Current Councillor Lee was singled out as the only one voicing opposition to Rainbow Storytimes in libraries (Rotorua had an event cancelled March 2024 which was much publicised), and for doing so I suspect probably gained him kudos with a lot of constituents. That issue hasn’t been tested in Taupo, but I am sure will come up sooner or later.

Nobby’s parting words of wisdom: Departing Mayor of Invercargill Nobby Clark spends 12 minutes talking about Councils and the role of elected members, and he is someone I choose to listen very carefully. He mentions the very expensive and culturally pleasing wastewater land disposal projects to which he has given stern warnings to government ministers (i.e. just like the $20M project proposed for Turangi and also relevant to Rotorua as this informative 8 min snippet describes). In addition, he bemoans the absence of skillsets at the Council table such as governance, finance, infrastructure and legal, and goes so far to endorse the government appointment of experts in these fields in lieu of some elected members. This idea has occurred to me before and it would undoubtedly be an improvement to now, but I am wary of the political influence from afar that this could exert.

Maori wards to be or not to be? Local Traceylee Horton put on a table talk evening on Monday that was well attended by members of the public including a few candidates like myself, and although their arguments weren’t compelling enough for to me to tick the box (you can read my take on Maori wards here), at least there wasn’t any aggravation which can sometimes accompany this topic. Hopefully a recording will be posted soon on one of the Taupo Facebook group pages.

Showing who’s the boss: Rotorua Mayoral candidate Robert Lee recently had his campaign launch presentation removed from youtube after Council staff reported breach of copyright for using snippets of Council meeting recordings even though these are in the public domain. Rather than wait for the electoral officer to tardily respond after the election is all over, Councillor Lee is asserting electoral interference and instead uploaded the clips to a different platform with links from his website here. Good on ya Robert for giving it the stick, there’s some leadership qualities on display right there.

Aoteainertia? Interesting blog entitled Aoteainertia by John Mclean, who gives a compelling view as to why this country are seemingly stuck in the doldrums. Not everyone will agree with everything said by a long shot, but I for one am not convinced he is far wrong.

Ducks for Sale: We missed out on their paddleboat steamer, but I see now that Rotorua’s Duck Tours are up for sale. Anyone interested in scooping them up for Taupo? Our lake probably chops up a little more than theirs and we wouldn’t want any mishaps, but I reckon they would be an interesting addition.

Valedictory moments: The last full Council meeting of this term was held on Tuesday which I didn’t manage to attend and there was nothing much of importance discussed anyway, but a highlight was the approx. 25min of valedictory speeches by departing Councillors John Williamson, Kirsty Trueman and Karam Fletcher (you can listen to them from 3:50 min here). I managed to get un-named dishonorable mention in Councillor Williamson’s speech as a warning about peddlers of misinformation and disharmony, so I guess we won’t be missing each other too badly.

I reckon it is a bit rough that only those three got to say their official farewells, because who knows how many of the rest of us will be back after 11 October? Anyway, I delivered my own parting few words as per below:

It’s sometimes been a blast,

We haven’t always seen eye to eye,

But that’s the die been cast.

The next lot don’t know what they’re in for,

Perhaps it’s just as well,

I might not be here otherwise,

Giving you all…

Friday fact unfortunate: As I have been reflecting on these past three years in Council, the following quote passed my notice and just seems so appropriate.

Campaign Priority #2: Take Back Control of Council

17 September 2025

Councillor Duncan here, recalling my three campaign priorities:

#1 Restore Democracy

#2 Take Back Control of Council

#3 Cap Rates to Inflation

Today I want to talk about #2 Take Back Control of Council – and I mean from the staff, of course. Because right now a big reason that your rates keep on going up and up is because Council staff dictate what needs to happen and why, and the elected members go along with it (even if grudgingly at times). I am not saying that the staff are always wrong, but I am saying they will always find reasons to spend more money than we really can afford.

I say that elected members need to get some balls and not just let staff pull the strings.

For this to happen:

Change of leadership. Elected members need to get their act together and not just act independently, otherwise staff will continue to run the shop as they have been for too long already. That will require elected members to wisen up and practice teamwork to look out for not just their own priorities but also each other’s. Because things like that do not happen in a vacuum, without the right leadership at the helm I don’t think it’s going to happen. Departing Mayor of Invercargill Nobby Clark puts it quite well in this 10 min interview.

Staff need to be directed to follow the Local Government Act and start providing elected members with the full range of reasonably practicable options. This simply has not been happening to date, and a few examples that stand out to me include the Motutere Reserve Management Plan Review which wasn’t even necessary, and the more recent Joint Management Agreement (JMA) where elected members were led down the garden path as if there was only one way to do it. Being provided with practicable options was something I attempted to table last year through an acknowledgement of an important Wellington case, but was yet again shut down by a leadership that wasn’t prepared to entertain the notion that it wasn’t already happening. Yeah right.

Delegated Authorities need to change, and for infrastructure spends in particular. At present elected members get to sign off on Annual and Long Term Plan budgets at the beginning of each financial year, but detail is very skimpy for the hundreds of line items with often just a few words and a big $$ figure beside them. In my own professional field of transportation it is extraordinary for Council staff to say, go off and build a multi-million dollar intersection upgrade without reporting back for approval of governance – yet that is exactly what happens here in Taupo. What is most agitating for me as an engineer who is hot on value for money infrastructure, is that I know some projects could have been done for a fraction of the price.

More independent professional reviews. At present we are almost only ever presented with papers prepared from the staff viewpoint, and that can be anything from engineer or planning reports to legal opinions. Unless you happen to be a lawyer or engineer yourself, it can be very hard to push back on staff recommendations because of the accountability that goes with it. Professional independent advice does cost money, and my own preference is for elected members to be able to source their own. I reckon we could start with $10K per elected member, and that would be a bargain if it helps to get some more circumspect thinking to happen.

Do transparency for real and not just pretend. That means audio-visual recording every Council or committee meeting that involves elected members as many other Councils already do (unfortunately there was no support last year when I tabled this to happen). It also involves elected members telling the public what is actually going on and not just carrying forth the staff censored spin as I believe happens too often around here. I have been doing that the past year or so, but am fairly exceptional and other elected members need to start doing the same.

For the main campaign page to explore all three campaign priorities please head over here

Friday and its raining

12 September 2025

Councillor Duncan reporting in with the past weeks Council happenings, or at least the ones I noticed anyway.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk isn’t exactly of local news relevance – or is it? In my view the tolerance to hear someone else’s views, or even to let others hear them, has waned quite significantly since around 2019. Violence has been a way of solving problems for a very long time, and against those in leadership roles especially. Are we so far off from having the same happen here? I am not so sure.

This week we have:

In case you missed them: my candidate 90 sec interview, and I also put out some information on my campaign priority #1 – Restore Democracy. Next week will be #2 – Take Back Control of Council.

Rotary rhetoric, or are they just relics? The Rotary event on Monday 8 September was well attended, and if you have two hours on your hands to hear a little more about candidates you can watch here. Otherwise, to the question: “Describe the purpose of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and how it affects your local government role?” this was my 70 second response. I did also prepare answers to several other questions about Rates Caps, Local Waters done Well, the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) and Maori wards, and you can find my written responses to those here.

There seemed to be a fixation on questions about Maori wards which I found a little odd given it is a public referendum question to decide in October, and the strict Y/N format of the questions at the end deteriorated things a little. Overall I think it wasn’t too bad an effort by Rotary who put it all on, and it would have been challenging to cater for so many candidates. But a couple of things did stick out for me: first that I am in a very small minority who openly say they would breach confidentiality – I think new candidates need to appreciate in matters of greater public interest that justifiable exceptions can be made, and also to challenge every time something is being held as confidential. And Cr Loughlin’s mentioning that staff could go to jail if they fail to adhere to legislation – I have not heard of that happening before in New Zealand, ever.

Mirror on the wall: Robert Lee mayoral candidate for Rotorua poses an interesting question about the Treaty of Waitangi, and what it means for Councils. Like me, he says: not very much at all. Having said that, the Kaipara District Council legal opinion which downplays Treaty obligations to Councils was recently rejected by a South Island Mayor

Why aren’t they signing? The Taxpayer Union pledge isn’t attracting signatures from too many Taupo ward candidates as you can see here, although for some reason they haven’t included Maori ward candidate responses (if you are in one of the other wards, you need to ask here). I find it a little strange that two of the front running mayoral candidates will sign, but only a few of us others. I am reading that as a bit of a disconnect to actually getting rates down, because any time you give The Council Machine an inch it will always take a mile.

Joint Management Agreement refresher: To piece together all my posts and info on the JMA, I have put together a special JMA page here. On that note, have a listen to Shane Jones inferring that some kind of woke virus has infected regional councils including our own Waikato one.

Race-based or just r**ist? New Plymouth Councillor censored for stating that a race-based procurement policy is r**ist. I am not sure if TDC have a similar policy for preferential treatment, but one of these days I intend to ask.

Why do we need Councils anyway? So says this guy, but I think it’s probably easier to run away in a housebus.

Works in progress but we are just about there now: Here are my candidate statements to Policy.nz, which don’t quite match the three campaign priorities I am putting out now because these were submitted several weeks ago.

Legal costs mounting? I reckon an interesting metric to compare Councils would be legal costs per ratepayer (including payouts), because I have a sneaking suspicion that Taupo District Council could be near top of the list. Just looking back to the John Hall debacle of 2023 where hundreds of building consent producer statements got signed off fraudulently over a several-year timeframe, I never did get satisfactory answers to my questions at the time. Like say: how many of these were simply vetted for quality purposes (because sloppy engineering practice is a much bigger problem than fraud)? Or even: have the processes since been improved to prevent it happening again? But the walls of The Council Machine went up very quickly with self-preservation at No.1, so I gave up trying.

Power back to the people: Auckland Transport to be stripped of most of its powers, with Minister of Transport Chris Bishop saying: “These changes mean that Auckland Council’s elected members will be directly accountable to the public for most transport decisions that affect the daily lives of Aucklanders”. I reckon the same needs to happen for elected members in Taupo, who for too long have been treated as tick-boxers for significant transport issues affecting the entire district. We just need the right leadership to get elected in.

Friday insider peek at… TRAFFESSIONALS, your local shop for traffic engineering advice:

Campaign Priority#1: Restore Democracy

10 September 2025

Councillor Duncan here, and I think it’s about time to introduce my three campaign priorities:

#1 Restore Democracy

#2 Take Back Control of Council

#3 Cap Rates to Inflation

Today I’ll talk a little about #1 Restore Democracy and what I mean by that. First of all I am talking about democracy in Council Chambers, because if we can’t get it happening in there of all places it is hardly worth the bother of having elections. For this to happen:

Cease and desist the cynical use of Standing Orders to shut down debate and discussion as has been happening the past three years and probably much longer. Some examples of that include Local Waters Done Well, Motutere Reserve Management Plan Review and the Northern Access Transport Study. That requires a change of leadership.
Amend that rotten change to Standing Orders which was made by elected members in October 2024, which effectively mutes the dissent of any single elected member who can’t get prior approval by at least one other before tabling an item for public discussion. To change that back requires 75% of elected members to agree.
Cease and desist the manipulative management of microphones during Council meetings. That requires common sense.
Cease and desist the censoring of elected members by staff in Council media outlets. That requires a directive from leadership for staff to stop their meddling. Following an incident in July 2024 when I submitted a Councillor Korero item for the Taupo & Turangi Times that was rejected on the basis of alleged ‘dishonesty and misinformation’, I since refused to submit any others.

But I am also talking about a better democracy for constituents as well, and greater transparency of what your elected members get up to – because right now they can take the salary and basically resurface only once every three years. For this to happen:

Publish the voting and attendance records of every elected member on every issue that comes before Council for a decision, similar to this initiative of a Councillor in Christchurch recently.
Elected members to present 250 word minimum summaries every time they attend a Council funded event of more than half a day duration. These can be published monthly and will be useful in justifying not only the expenditure, but also the value of belonging to organisations such as Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) which host regular events around the country.
Council to undertake random surveys of constituents on singular burning issues of the day, rather than only rely on annual plan submissions which can be overwhelming in their numbers on every topic under the sun.
Consider having the monthly full Council meetings in the evenings so that the average working person can attend.
More frequent town meetings, and in my opinion residents could be the ones organising these and demanding Council representation.

I believe these things will increase transparency and accountability of what goes on in Council Chambers, and they will also better motivate both Councillors and members of the public to take part in a democracy much less worse than we have now.

Anyone else got some suggestions? I bet there are more good ideas out there.

For the main campaign page to explore all three campaign priorities please head over here

The Bottom Line on Conflicted Interest – is YOU

2 September 2025

Earlier this month, I submitted a formal letter of complaint to the Office of the Auditor-General regarding a potential conflict of interest involving Councillor Danny Loughlin. My concern was that as a Board Member of the Tūwharetoa Maori Trust Board (TMTB), he had failed to step back from the Council table during the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) deliberations on July 31, 2025. That, to myself and many others, clearly crossed a line of acceptability. Mayor Trewavas declined to intervene, and the Chief Executive even refused my request for independent legal opinion ahead of the meeting. I see those responses as irresponsible, bordering on reckless disregard.

Let’s be clear: if Councillor Loughlin was simultaneously a director of a construction company bidding for a Council contract, they would almost certainly be required to recuse themselves. In fact it would be laughable if they didn’t.

So how on earth can a sitting Councillor, who is also a Board Member of a corporate entity proposing to engage in direct partnership negotiations with the Council, be reasonably considered free of any conflict of interest – financial or otherwise – when both organisations stand to benefit from the arrangement? After all, isn’t that always the reason to have any agreement at all??

My complaint was about a non-financial conflict of interest given his governance role and Iwi affiliation, and my 4 August 2025 letter can be found here.

Last week the Auditor-General responded, you can read it here. The short version: ‘It’s not our job to rule on non-financial conflicts’.

So at the end of the day it is up to politicians to police themselves, and there isn’t anything anybody can do about it. That is, apart from shaming people as Mayor David Trewavas attempted to do with me on 28 June last year in the final edition of the Taupo Times local newspaper:

“While Cr Campbell has repeatedly made his engineering qualifications known to the community, he and every councillor was elected to represent and advocate for their community, not provide specialised advice in their particular field. That would represent a significant conflict of interest, one that this councillor has repeatedly failed to grasp”.

Perhaps next term instead of trying to helpfully contribute on a topic on which I know more about than Council staff, I should instead put forth a partnership deal with my own company and vote YES to it (that is, if I get elected in October).

A broader pattern?

Councillor Loughlin isn’t the only elected member facing public scrutiny around potential conflicts of interest. A recent article by Sophie M Smith raises community questions about Councillor Yvonne Westerman’s position, particularly given her professional background in property and real estate – an industry that naturally intersects with Council decision-making.

While no formal allegations have been made, perceptions of conflicted interests continue to surface (for example, there are reports of seeing her business signage on properties listed for sale that are owned or managed by Council). Real estate, of course, is one of the few industries that could be seen – rightly or wrongly – as benefitting from early insight into proposed District Plan changes. That perception alone underscores the need for greater transparency.

So then, the bottom line is really … YOU

There are very few public spaces where this kind of blurred line between public duty and private allegiance would be tolerated. But local government seems to be the exception, and no-one including other elected members have any real power to force recusals

This is not about attacking individuals, but as public figures they shouldn’t be above receiving that either. It’s about ensuring that our decision-making remains above reproach, especially in politically and culturally sensitive areas. If the rules aren’t fit for purpose, then perhaps it’s time they got changed.

The Auditor-General mentioned at the end of their letter that they are developing some practice material around Treaty settlement entities like TMTB, which is all good and fine. But it sounds like that’s all they will be: Guidelines. I think we need something harder than that: Rules.

Until that happens:

It’s on YOU to vote in some people who you think can tell right from wrong, and will represent YOUR best interests and not just their own.

Friday Foibles: One size fits all?

29 August 2025

Okay Councillor Duncan reporting in again, and for at least another month and a bit I still get to use that title. Just one more Council meeting to go in September, and I will be so glad to see the backside of it. That’s not saying I don’t want to be re-elected, but we need some sweeping changes alright if I am even going to consider sticking around another three years.

There is not much happening on the Council front right now because it is the silly election season time, and because of that you can’t expect to get any sensible decisions in Council Chambers. I can tell one or two of them are nervous for their political futures, but as for myself – I can’t imagine why anybody would want to do this job without a very good reason. If my time is up then so be it, I gave it my best.

Okay so this week we have:

Free pass, or am I just being an ass? On Tuesday Council voted to approve the Notification of some District Plan changes, the most notable being the introduction of new Maori Purpose Zones (MPZ’s). I posted on Monday about my dissatisfaction with the way this seemingly race-based planning tool is being railroaded in almost unannounced and voiced this during the meeting (watch it here – please ignore any gaslighting by colleagues that this has all been well discussed before because it has not, and also note microphone management by the Chair).

I made the point that some other Councils have considered other planning tools to assist development for communally owned land which is hard for the owners to get finance, but it was portrayed that MPZ are a one size that fits all, and that we needn’t bother about legislative requirements of the Local Government Act which requires all practicable solutions be explored and presented. To illustrate, below is a snippet from ChatGPT after I asked it for alternatives:

This matter of elected members being presented with all practicable options before making a decision was a topic which I tabled a Notice of Motion in September 2024, when I wanted Councillors to simply acknowledge an important court case from Wellington so as to ensure this sort of thing always happens. Intriguingly not one of the other elected members were supportive at the time, and the pushback included that it seemingly always happens here anyway. I think this MPZ example clearly shows that it doesn’t.

That a precedent like this for the district gets such flippant attention, to me just shows how much elected members get led by the nose, and how much of a lubricant is anything around here with the label ‘Maori’ on it. I genuinely do support the intention, but we owe it to the public, and to tangata whenua, to consider all the available tools for the job and not just a one size fits all solution. Apart from all that, what if we were talking: Chinese Purpose Zones?

Mayoral summary spot on: I reckon this summary of the Mayoral race candidates by local Sophie M Smith is a fairly accurate one and very much worth a read.

Credit Card mania, or all just part of the job? Sophie M Smith’s second piece of investigative work this week was around asserted mischievous credit card use by our intrepid Mayor of Taupo David Trewavas. I cannot confirm or deny any of the details, but I can confirm elected members have not been formally briefed about it.

Worship your Mayor? The third of Sophie M Smith’s prodigious output this week was about picking a Mayor. In my time as Councillor this last term, I reckon it might just as well have been Mayor David Trewavas and his Deputy Kevin Taylor running the place, because on any matters of true importance they could invariably be relied upon to shut down any voices of dissent especially my own. As Chairpersons they have the discretion and authority to do this under the Standing Orders of meetings, and there is very little one can do about it. Restoring democracy in Council Chambers is my one of my first priorities if elected, but that will not happen unless the leadership does change. So I really do hope that voters use their brains and not just their heart, otherwise there’s not really much point in having elections, is there?

Maori Wards debate ramping up, or down? Chris Marshall writes an interesting take on the Maori Ward question, including a spiel by sitting Maori Ward Councillor Danny Loughlin (recall he is also the TMTB Director who didn’t declare any conflicted interest in the proposed JMA partnership deal between TMTB and Council ). I find it interesting that Ngati Tuwharetoa significant landholdings get mentioned in this article, implying it justifies greater democratic representation. So does that mean if Elon Musk bought up large around here, he would get his own ward too?

In the article Councillor Loughlin says: “What our community did get was a whole lot of skills, knowledge and experience that were sorely lacking at the council table. The network and connections that we bring is needed when dealing with complex issues like wastewater in Nukuhau and Tūrangi, expiring landfill consents and a second bridge crossing“. In the past three years I haven’t noticed a whole lot of that happening which couldn’t have happened anyway, but Danny is right in further saying that voters should be looking at the Council’s track record rather than just listening to what politicians say – if you are a ratepayer, I say that you only need to have a look at your skyrocketing rates bills to see that.

Better democracy happens when people actually turn up to vote, and care about who they vote for. I think Maori wards are a much second best to that.

Also of note, it looks like a Hobson’s Pledge campaign against Maori Wards has kicked off.

Mayor’s not talking tripe: Listen to this interview with Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe who entered politics straight into the top job. He shows it can be done if you have the appropriate skills and background – and in fact a lack of institutional experience may even be helpful. Whanganui managed the lowest rates increase in the country at around just 2%, and he managed it via things like reducing his executive team, restructuring to improve efficiency, and seeking alternative funding sources. Mention was also made of a previous Mayor demanding a CEO depart if they couldn’t deliver a zero rates increase, and apparently the resignation letter was received soon after. So Mayors are not just one voice at the table after all – they do have clout.

Our cowardly leaders: Following the refusal of our honoured Sir & Dame leaders to front up to the Royal Commission enquiry, the Voices for Freedom organisation have released a free copy of their report about how we were all duped during covid. Just in case anybody was thinking of it, please don’t nominate me for a knighthood because Hell will freeze over before I ever accept one of those.

Isn’t that what you call an Indian giver? Ngati Tuwharetoa paramount chief Ariki Tuma Te Heuheu Tukino VIII wants the mountain back

Mirror on the wall: Candidate Zoran Rakovic who is standing for Selwyn District is my kind of guy who blends an eloquent writing style with laced humour. I reckon we need more people like him in local government, and my advice is to get them while you can.

Student Fight back and wins: An Auckland University law student compiled over 680 pages of evidence to win a judicial review case against Auckland Transport (AT) for installed a series of speed humps and because did not properly justify why they would not ‘unduly impede vehicular traffic’. I think this just goes to show the extraordinary effort required to push back on a Council decision, and also that the law is no panacea for justice. This judicial review established that there was some predetermined thinking going on, but did not adjudicate on whether the decision to install these raised platforms was incorrect. The reality is that we need elected representatives who can think for themselves, who can push back on Council staff with the hard questions before the decision gets made and not after.

Conduct unbecoming? There was a recent code of conduct complaint against an elected member of Taupo District Council following an incident at a committee meeting which was not audio-visual recorded. A lawyer was apparently involved, but probably not a very independent one because as far as I can tell there was grounds for grievance. More than anything else though, this episode should highlight for the sake of everybody’s protection, the importance of audio-visual recording any formal Council meetings which include elected members. This is something which I advocated to happen last September in a tabled Notice of Motion but unfortunately could garner not even a seconder let alone vote of support. This needs to change, because to have accountability we also need to have visibility.

Pssst: There was a confidential item 6.2 on Tuesday Council meeting entitled Proposed Commercial Land Sale at 155 Napier Road (which didn’t seem to me to justify secrecy given it is public land at stake). But in case the interested party is listening: don’t expect to get a sensible answer in as silly an election season as this, so perhaps try again after October.

Duncandoestaupo insurance: It has occurred to me that fickle Facebook is capable of cancelling me at any moment and for no legitimate reason, so if you haven’t already please press the subscribe button at the bottom of this page to cover that eventuality and not risk missing out in the crucial weeks ahead.

Friday reality check: Your average government minister be like:

Friday Punchline: Into the Maelstrom

22 August 2025

Councillor Duncan reporting in again, and has anybody noticed there is an election happening in October? A recent poll I came across on Facebook seemed to indicate John Funnell and Zane Cozens as the current frontrunners, which is quite a turnaround if it’s true (okay, so it will exclude youngsters and oldsters who never touch Facebook). Because this town has been stuck on David Trewavas for so long it is hard for some of us to imagine having anybody else at the helm, just like it felt when I was a kid with Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. But just like Taupo weather is so much less exciting than near the coast, I think people here have been way too conservative too long for our own good. Local government affects everyone, and it is about time this fact gets realised.

This week we have:

Censorship on the field: If you missed my Tuesday post on the absurd Facebook censoring of cutting local political satire, see it here. Because if you want it unfiltered, you’re just gonna have to keep on coming on back to this page.

Stuck with it, or steady as she goes? This happened a several months ago now, and perhaps I just wasn’t looking hard enough but I didn’t see mention of it elsewhere. Anyway the current CEO of Taupo District Council Julie Gardyne had her contract renewed for another two years starting around July 2026. This was another one of those decisions of elected members made behind closed doors (this time legitimately because it was an employment matter), but I can tell you the vote was definitely not unanimous. Irrespective of performance, I objected on the basis that an incoming Council should be given that prerogative and not the current, and at very most the contract extension should have been for no more than six months to let the incoming Council settle down and decide. But instead it looks like we are stuck with an expensive severance package if any change is so desired, so if that comes to pass then you can thank your current batch of more conservative Councillors.

Overpaid or under-appreciated? While we are on this subject of our most well-paid of public servants, The Taxpayers Union did a recent Facebook post and also published a Rich List for comparison of CEO salaries around the country. My own thoughts about this are somewhat ambivalent. On the one hand, I think the elevation in status and authority of what pre-1989 was effectively just the Town Clerk, is a factor why costs to ratepayer consumers have escalated. On the other hand, I know of private business owners in my own field who earn much more and for possibly also much less hassle (note: I am not one of those by a very long shot).

GEYSER of opportunity: Interested in investing to benefit local worthy causes of your choice? Look no further than the GEYSER Community Foundation, which I attended their AGM at the Cosmopolitan Club on Tuesday. I have never been much involved or even interested in community fundraising, let alone attending an AGM for one. But this outfit came across as really quite interesting – they don’t just get the money and give it away like most charities and Council do, they invest the capital and give away only a portion of the profits (around 3% currently, but they are aiming for 4%). They cover the Rotorua, Taupo and also Murupara districts, and last year some 20% of the $234K was distributed to Taupo and Turangi in all sorts of local projects from helping out disabled kids with their music lessons to who knows what. Anyway, if you are interested in sustainable local investment or even if you want to apply for a grant yourself, they seem like a bunch of smart people and I suggest you give them a call.

Nobby bows down: PLATFORM interviews retiring Mayor of Invergargill Nobby Clark on the widespread problem of leadership vacuum and staff leading elected members through the nose – absolutely relevant to here.

Maori Wards anyone? Someone put me onto this brief interview as a case for Maori Wards, but I have to say it is far convincing. In addition, a movement called Common Grace Aotearoa is now calling Māori wards a ‘biblical issue’, and I’ve even heard them frame the Treaty before as a sacred covenant. I’m a believer myself and accept that religion and politics do mix, but let’s be clear: the Treaty is a political document, not scripture. Councils are bound by statute, not theology. And as the book of James should remind us, faith without works is dead – the real test for Māori wards isn’t whether they can be justified from the Bible, it’s whether they actually deliver accountability and effectiveness in Council. On the other side of the argument, I find this account here with an analogy to Europe before the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 to be the more compelling. In any case, I personally think in this district that Māori wards are a trivial red herring compared to the broken democracy we have going on right now under the current leadership.

Sensible Speed Limits? You may have noticed that some State Highway One speed limits between Taupō and Tūrangi were raised a few months ago. In a some locations that may make sense, but I seriously question the lifting from 60 km/hr to 100 km/hr outside Motutere campground which seems unsafe and will likely need revisiting. What’s more concerning is that Council’s ‘submission’ on the changes, signed off by the Deputy Mayor, was only shown to the rest of elected members after it went in. In my view, if we want central government agencies like NZTA to take us seriously, we need to present a reasoned case backed by hard evidence including things like safety data. Otherwise it’s just advocacy without substance, and too easy to get flipped off.

Liability shared or liability averted? This RNZ interview with a lawyer representing Councils is an interesting take on the governments move to change the Building Act. I am not sure if this will help consumers or not, because it sounds like insurance costs could skyrocket.

Who is really at the controls anyway? Southland District Councillor Jaspreet Boropai gives a five minute rundown of just what our leaders are prepared to give away on your behalf

Trust your Council? “Only 30% of Kiwis trusted council decision-making, and that was in 2020” – so says Erika Harvey on RCR in this half hour interview.

Anyone have a fence? I have some election billboards still looking for a home, so if you support me and have a fence which people look at then please get in touch.

Friday Funny from The Onion: Nowadays news on TV be like…(WARNING: includes some graphic language)

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Friday Wrap – This Council is Broken

15 August 2025

Councillor Duncan here once again, and now we’re heading into the front end of the election campaign some new faces are starting to appear. One of them, Māori ward candidate Wahine Murch, is calling for a revolution in democracy, governance, and leadership. I may not agree with her on everything, but on this point we’re aligned – this Council is a poor imitation of what it is meant to be for the people it purports to represent, and it has been going on for way too long. It is broken and needs to be rescued.

But talk is cheap, and especially at election time. Belief in good ideas is one thing – delivering under pressure is another. Voters should ask candidates, and especially incumbents who should have been evidencing this to you already: When did you last hold your ground against determined opposition? When did you stand apart from the herd? Walking the talk is harder than it looks, and if you dislike playground politics, you may dislike the reality of local government even more.

Meanwhile, Council is in near-hibernation because our illustrious Mayor apparently finds it too uncomfortable to meet and talk about any issues before the election. Still, a few things are going on:

Councillor Duncan speaks out – Here is my interview with Erica Harvey of Tauranga based Lobby For Good covers how local government protects itself from scrutiny – from both the public and elected members put in there to govern.

JMA sentiments continue to disturb – This document sent to me by a constituent claims ~90% public opposition to the JMA was ignored. I can’t verify the author or data, but the gap between public concern and Council action is clear enough – and a good reason to keep pressing candidates on this. Oh, and we just have to make mention a very special Facebook post with the graphic below by an anonymous identity known as Lake Taupo which shows how much fun AI can be. However, it is quite apparent that some person(s) has reported it to Facebook as a rule breach (which it isn’t, because these are public figures and it is satire), because yesterday afternoon the Lake Taupo identity was deleted. I will probably do a fuller post about this next week, but let me tell you that censorship of that kind is one of the most insidious enemies of your local democracy and we should all be abhorring it. A California based company like Facebook cannot be relied upon to tell the difference.

Kaipara kicks back to the Treaty – Kaipara District Council has adopted an independent legal opinion on Māori obligations that avoids locking in governance ‘partnerships’ not required by law, and some people aren’t very happy about it. In the past I have questioned some of the terminology in Taupō District Councils own planning documents, but have been abruptly flipped off with comments like: ‘go read some history’. It is quite clear to me now that statements in the Long Term Plan such as ‘Taupō District Council is committed to meeting its statutory Tiriti O Waitangi obligations and acknowledges partnership as the basis of Te Tiriti’ are there by political choice and not any legal necessity. Now that Kaipara has demonstrated that Councils can meet obligations without embedding partnerships into governance, I believe we should revisit these policies to reflect the law and the will of the whole community – and this has clear relevance to things like the proposed JMA partnership deal with Tūwharetoa Maori Trust Board.

Local government under the microscope – Management consultant Kathryn Ennis-Carter offers us a blunt assessment of why change is urgently needed. Worth a listen, especially for any newbie candidates before they get thrown in the deep end.

Signs of silliness – New signs at Five Mile Bay remind people it’s illegal to drive on a footpath, which it always has been. Yet despite a five-page staff paper in May to justify why the signs are needed, people still do it – just amazing, isn’t it? Anyway if you come across such activity and you don’t like it happening, please just report it to the Police.

Roundabouts right, or roundabouts wrong? Someone asked me about the two Council planned roundabouts the other day, and do they really have to be so expensive at $1.6 M and $3M apiece? The short answer is: No they don’t. To put into context, when I was a Council engineer at Waitakere City pop. 300K, I was in charge of an annual safety budget approx. $2M (2025 dollars) from which we would get at least a dozen projects including at least a few of this nature. Because civil engineering infrastructure like this contribute a mighty portion of Council debt, it is important to employ staff who really know their stuff, and I can’t help but also think that perhaps tools like rates caps would better motivate some lateral thinking.

Pukenamu pushes back – while we’re on the subject of roundabouts, the Environment Court has set a 9th September hearing date for constituent Ivan Jones’ challenge to the Pukenamu Rd roundabout. Back in January I called this exercise a $300K harassment of a residential street — and if it proceeds, it’s being submitted straight to the Taxpayers’ Union Jonesie Awards as an example of wasteful spending.

DIA financial snapshot – The Department of Internal Affairs has just released a set of financial metrics comparing councils nationwide. One figure that stands out for Taupō District Council is our revenue-to-operating-expenses ratio, which has dropped from 121% in 2022 to just 93% in 2024. In plain English, that would appear to mean that we’ve gone from a healthy surplus to barely breaking even – with not much buffer for unexpected costs. At election time, that should make you ask whether the current spending mix is sustainable, or whether we’re quietly setting ourselves up for either more debt or more rates hikes – yet one more argument for rates caps.

Taupo Airport rejig shelved – last month or so an initiative to change Taupo Airport to a full Council Control Organisation (CCO) with independent directors was squashed by several elected members including the Deputy Mayor even before they got to read the 95% prepared staff paper, I say quite transparently because it was felt that the predicted controversy might compromise their chances of getting re-elected. Yes kiddies that is how things work in this town, and I bet those same elected members are now wishing they did the same for the JMA.

Berms and bureaucracy – not that we are so short of space in the Taupo region and the soil is pretty awful anyway, but I think this Aucklander who took on the bureaucracy of Auckland Council to plant a garden on Council berm deserves a medal. After all if you are expected to maintain it, why can’t you choose what grows there?

Fridays flippant fancy: Why can’t we be more like the French?

Friday Council Circus – Purple Sky Who Can Deny

8 August 2025

Councillor Duncan reporting again, this week we have:

JMA keeps on giving: Earlier in the week there was my JMA debrief, and here is the latest Duncan Garner interview with Christine Rankin on the hospital pass to the next Council along with a message from promising Mangakino electorate hopeful Hope Woodward. I believe this will remain a live election issue, and choose to believe that the majority of voters will act wisely if they are properly informed. Around here that hasn’t been happening for quite some time now, so I hope this JMA saga will be a blessing in disguise for some change to really happen.

Conflicted or conflated interests? An interesting blog put out by local Sophie Smith is inferring some conflicted interests with regard to Taupo District Councillors Danny Loughlin and Yvonne Westerman. Now this is a topic I have come to recognise as quite a grey area indeed. As far as I can tell, the only practical way that non-declared conflicts of interest for elected members get dealt with is: (i) by way of legal hindsight e.g. expensive judicial review; (ii) by way of independent legal foresight; or (iii) public humiliation to exert influence at the next election. On that note, I have submitted a complaint to the Auditor-General to investigate breach of conflict-of-interest obligations with regard to Councillor Danny Loughlin, who despite being a significant party to both sides of the JMA agreement did not recuse himself from the voting. Even though he declared himself not conflicted, just because I say the sky is purple doesn’t make it true either.

Road cone hotline: yes you heard that right, if you spot excessive road cone use anywhere in New Zealand there is now a hotline you can now call to make things right. So don’t be afraid to dob in Taupo District Council or NZTA for wasting your time and money.

Join the dots for your own Council: Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has just released its long awaited financial metrics for you to be able to compare with other Councils around the country. I haven’t looked at them yet and am no financial genius anyway, but there will be people out there giving it a crack – so why not have a go yourself?

Conspiracy to take over local government? For a good laugh, you might like to read this attempted hit piece on freedom movement tainted electoral hopefuls from the mainstream media that reads more like a campaign endorsement to me.

Need more money or just wiser decision-making? A new July 2025 report by consultants Martin Jenkins confirms what many locals already suspect: New Zealand’s councils are chronically underfunded compared to their international counterparts. While the report recommends more flexible financing tools and debt options, the real takeaway is this – councils are being asked to do more with less, often without telling the public what trade-offs are on the table. So now more than ever, if local government is to truly serve local people, we need stronger democratic guardrails, greater public input, and clearer political accountability. Did we see any of that during the recent JMA debacle?

Public forums for all to see? I should probably mention that it is not normal for public forums at Taupo District Council to be recorded for public viewing as happens at many if not most other Councils in New Zealand. I believe it should be standard practice and have tried to argue the case before, but for the public forum at last weeks Council JMA meeting I made a specific request through the Mayor for this to happen. I think everyone deserves the same opportunity not just mayoral candidates or ex-CEO’s, and would like the practice to become standard. Because your voice matters too.

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Friday Art Corner: Truth Coming Out of Her Well by Jean-Léon Gérôme. To further explain: sometimes truth can offend and truth can hurt (that’s what the whip is for).