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