Listen, I don’t often bring my work home & share it, but I’ve just spent the past two days off work, and attending to my meeting duties as an elected member of the Otago regional council.
For a long, long time I have opined that local government in NZ is run by, and for, the bureaucrats. That elected governors play increasingly lesser roles in decision-making and that they are effectively sidelined by senior local government managers in a variety of ways. It’s the reason that people don’t vote in local elections, or make submissions to annual plans and the like. The public well understand that their input, and their elected reps, make bugger all difference to the local government machine.
But on Wednesday past, that belief/prejudice received dramatic confirmation around my council table.
To cut a long story short - the ORC want to establish a $2 million per annum fund, to finance worthy community environment projects. Big ones. They already spend around $1 million a year on small ones. Now we don’t have any specific projects in mind, but $2 million a year is to be rated against everyone irrespective.
The ORC staff wrote a paper - for governance approval this week - setting out the criteria for eligibility to that $2 million a year. And the very first one was this:
“Alignment to inter generational aspirations of Mana Whenua, with a demonstrated level of support obtained for the initiative from Mana Whenua/Papatipu Runaka”.
Now the “mana whenua” down here are about 3-4 local Maori committees, subsets (hapu, I guess) of Ngai Tahu. They are represented by a commercial entity that they’ve established called Aukaha.
When I questioned the ORC chief executive as to the meaning of “alignment” and what “a demonstrated level of support“ meant, I was informed that the eligibility criteria quoted above is actually “a core priority for the Council.”
Not just the $2m per annum environment fund, but the Otago regional council in general.
As you can imagine, I went ape (hopefully, intellectually ape but ape nonetheless). I charged that we were taking $2 million a year from hard-pressed ratepayers and then saying to a tiny fraction of the indigenous population of Otago that their preferences and values were not just critical, but the ONLY preferences and values that counted. Which is … racism. The racial preference of one group over all others, by dint of their ethnicity.
To make matters worse: if a really GREAT project came up that benefited the entire Otago environment and wider community, and it didn’t “align” with “Mana Whenua values”, then it would get no funding. Extraordinary, and wrong.
But staff dogma masquerading as staff recommendations, and promoting their bizarre (only word) representation of “partnership”, with local iwi representatives is what ORC staff do.
In the end, I was surprised that a majority of councillors felt a similar discomfort. We have a left/green majority, after all. The item is to be word-smithed but it will return. And bureaucracy, like rust, never sleeps.
ENDS
Source: Facebook
The ORC staff wrote a paper - for governance approval this week - setting out the criteria for eligibility to that $2 million a year. And the very first one was this:
“Alignment to inter generational aspirations of Mana Whenua, with a demonstrated level of support obtained for the initiative from Mana Whenua/Papatipu Runaka”.
Now the “mana whenua” down here are about 3-4 local Maori committees, subsets (hapu, I guess) of Ngai Tahu. They are represented by a commercial entity that they’ve established called Aukaha.
When I questioned the ORC chief executive as to the meaning of “alignment” and what “a demonstrated level of support“ meant, I was informed that the eligibility criteria quoted above is actually “a core priority for the Council.”
Not just the $2m per annum environment fund, but the Otago regional council in general.
As you can imagine, I went ape (hopefully, intellectually ape but ape nonetheless). I charged that we were taking $2 million a year from hard-pressed ratepayers and then saying to a tiny fraction of the indigenous population of Otago that their preferences and values were not just critical, but the ONLY preferences and values that counted. Which is … racism. The racial preference of one group over all others, by dint of their ethnicity.
To make matters worse: if a really GREAT project came up that benefited the entire Otago environment and wider community, and it didn’t “align” with “Mana Whenua values”, then it would get no funding. Extraordinary, and wrong.
But staff dogma masquerading as staff recommendations, and promoting their bizarre (only word) representation of “partnership”, with local iwi representatives is what ORC staff do.
In the end, I was surprised that a majority of councillors felt a similar discomfort. We have a left/green majority, after all. The item is to be word-smithed but it will return. And bureaucracy, like rust, never sleeps.
ENDS
Source: Facebook
11 comments:
That just shows how a few more people with brains need to put themselves forward for election on to local bodies.
I trust Miacheal now reads BV. He was unaware of Robert Mac Culloch's contributions so presumably has recently not.
As usual Michael is right on the button. Many publications from Councils are laced with sentences as that quoted. I have read it several times and still not sure of all the implications. If staff confer with each other in such language and understand they must have had remarkable education/indoctrination. I have made submissions on Council proposals and weasel words such as these occupy enormous time. Such words do, as intended, deter many citizens from the effort of input. Councillors and responsible citizens are too cowed by threat of cancellation to question.Whilst one now expects huge maori interference in Auckland with its history of high level artful activists it is astonishing that Anglo Saxon Otago is also so infected.
It is truly extraordinary how the pro maori influence has penetrated local govt, the public service, teaching, nursing, universities etc etc. In world history there can be few examples where the trace remnants of a recent stone age tribe have, for their own advantage, so subverted a long developed civilisation derived successful functioning democracy.
“Alignment to inter-generational aspirations of Mana Whenua, with a demonstrated level of support obtained for the initiative from Mana Whenua/Papatipu Runaka”.
Bureaucratic apartheid language plus apartheid funding to the non-indigenous minority with the power of veto, brought to you by the corporate apartheid agenda.
I glean from what Michael is saying that "the elected governors play increasingly lesser roles in decision-making and that they are effectively sidelined by senior local government managers". So, even if able people are elected would they be able to go against the tide? I'm too old to consider becoming involved, much like Richard Prebble who decided to walk away from the Waitangi Tribunal task, I and I'm sure many others would not wish to waste the rest of their lives pushing water uphill either! What it needs is our Coalition via the Local Govt Minister to legislate to cut out the cancer from within but with the current incumbent that is unlikely to happen.
Never in my lengthy lifetime have I witnessed such extremes in Niu Zild of the age-old maxim of 'the tail wags the dog'. Far worse in local body circles than nationally from the Beehive.
Luxon could fix this overnight if he had the inclination.
He doesn't.
This nonsense can not go on - has the revolution started ?
Luxon won't even attempt to "fix" it.
THE PRIME MINISTER SAYS THERE IS NOTHING HE LIKES ABOUT THE TREATY PRINCIPLES BILL.
He has stated this loud and clear.
So what are the things that he is opposed to?
Here they are.
LUXON DOES NOT AGREE WITH the following:-
• That the New Zealand Government has the right to govern all New Zealanders.
• The government having full power to govern and make laws to maintain a free and democratic society.
• the New Zealand Government will honour all New Zealanders in the chieftainship of their land and all their property
• That all New Zealanders are equal under the law with the same rights and duties.
That’s Right !! Our Prime Minster IS opposed to a free and equal society !
He has STATED IT publicly !!
Maori leaders are encouraging Maori candidates in local elections - and urging people to vote.
Well the chief executive of the ORC is recently appointed I believe and presumably by the council members or at least ratified by them. If change was wanted by the elected members that was the moment and given the quoted response from the said new CE it seems the moment was lost.
It is effective thinking people on the management of councils that we need, they need backed up by the policy set by councillors admittedly but it seems to me that the appointments to these positions leave room for improvement in some cases.
The Dunedin City Council will have an opportunity next year to appoint a new CE, I have my doubts they will do any better.
To Anonymous (10.21am).
Luxon is has been brainwashed by so many different forces. I have been beating a drum about him for quite a while. Read his 2025 Waitangi Day speech to Ngai Tahu. Grovelling all the way. Clichés, Slogans, Taglines all through it. Sounded like a travelling salesman. The 2025 Ngai Tahu speech was very different to the 2024 speech which was delivered at Waitangi.
Sample 2025 quotes:
“We want to shift decision-making away from central Government to iwi and communities where real change happens.”
“Iwi leaders and communities will continue to shape the political landscape with constructive partnerships that hold the Government accountable and work for the benefit of all.”
Speech Links:
2025 https://community.scoop.co.nz/2025/02/waitangi-day-speech-to-ngai-tahu-onuku-marae/
2024 https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/rt-hon-christopher-luxon-waitangi-speech
Post Script: The 2025 speech is not posted on Luxon’s official Beehive site. I fear he may have taken it down out of embarrassment over its poor quality. I can only presume the Scoop site is a bona fide copy.
I do recall Mr. M Laws, on his segment of The Platform - did ' wax lyrical ' about the ORC ' giving ' $5 mil of ratepayer money to this same Iwi Group - which tantamounted to a ' donation ' to Tainui.
Further research showed that the " esteemed, most trusted newspaper in NZ - The Otago Daily Times " - never even mentioned it.
Now what intrigues me, is why the ratepayers never ' revolted ' and will they ' revolt ' this time?
I propose an answer to my question - that being NO (revolt).
WE have become a society that we weep & wail over matters political, go to social media to do likewise and then you read -
- " Wait till the next election".
When that happens you end up with - "rinse, recycle, repeat".
So what has been proposed will occur.
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