Gary Judd KC: Return of the primitive

Reversion to a world of ignorance and superstition.

An affected Northland farmer has sent me Te Panonitanga o te Mahere Wai Māori Hukihuki: Kōrerotia mai o whakaaro The draft Freshwater Plan Change: Have your say, issued by the Northland Regional Council. This “draft blueprint for improving freshwater” tells its readers on page 6 that

Peter Williams: Time to put people first - But some bureaucrats don't want that

The Maori proverb goes “he tangata, he tangata, he tangata – it is the people, it is the people, it is the people.”

But farmers around the country don’t believe that. They say bureaucrats and regional council officials are putting the health of freshwater ahead of their ability to make a living from the land and to produce food for the world.

NZCPR Weekly: Repealing Democratic Rights

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s NZCPR newsletter, we highlight the Government’s dangerous plan to repeal democratic safeguards put in place by Helen Clark’s Labour Government, our NZCPR Guest Commentator John Bain explains why he resigned from the Northland Regional Council over their decision to introduce Maori wards without consulting the community, and our poll asks whether you agree with Labour that local government petition rights should be repealed.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
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Frank Newman: Red-faced regional council

The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has got itself into a bit of strife. The High Court has determined that between 2012 and 2016 it illegally collected some $14.4m worth of rates from ratepayers in Kaipara.

Before the High Court was an application for judicial review. In essence it was a challenge that the NRC did not act in accordance with the Rating Powers Act, and as a result the rates were set unlawfully.

The case was taken by the Mangawhai Ratepayers and Residents' Association and Bruce & Heather Rogan. It related to the Kaipara district only, but the NRC rates for Whangarei and Far North districts were set and assessed on the same basis as Kaipara and there is now a compelling precedent for those areas if anyone is minded to challenge the rates. If that were to happen, the amount involved would be close to $100m not $14.4m.

Frank Newman: Property drivers and local co-governance

 The April issue of Property Focus published by the ANZ has some interesting comments about immigration, lending, and mortgage borrowing.

On immigration they say, "On a three-month annualised basis, net permanent and long-term migration was close to 74,000 in March, which is near all-time highs and over 1½% of the resident population. More arrivals and fewer departures have both contributed to this large net inflow, although over the past 12 months or so, the former has been the dominant factor.

Frank Newman: Memorandum of Understanding and confidentiality

Last week the Northland Regional Council (NRC) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) with a Chinese state-controlled company to investigate infrastructure investment opportunities. According to the NRC press release, "It builds on a relationship that began in June last year when the council hosted a delegation from China Railway Zhongji Holding Group..."

It seems that delegation was on a NZ road trip as the Chinese group is reportedly also looking at relationships in Gisborne - and last November Fairfax media reported it had entered into an agreement with Wellington property investors Chow Group Management to provide up to $100 million in funding for construction ventures.

Frank Newman: Relentless planners and you

Planners are never satisfied, and never give up. Central and local government have departments full of them - all charged with the task of regulating what landowners can't do on their land. Increasingly, permitted use rights once held by landowners are being replaced with discretionary rights exercised by council planning staff (and enforced at the landowners cost).

Underlying it all is preservation and a (false) presumption that landowners can't be trusted to do the right thing for future generations. Fortunately, Neanderthals had a more enlightened view of innovation and preservation.

Planners are dangerous people - dangerous in that they elevate their own perceptions of the world above those they are supposed to serve. In an ideal world landowners would be protected from such people by their elected representatives. They are our line of defence against socialist planners and the like of radical environmentalists such as the Department of Conservation (DoC); that's why we elect them.