Fiona Mackenzie: Councils Hasten To Embed Tribal Control

…before 2025’s local body elections, Māori ward referenda, RMA reform, or the Coalition Government gets off its chuff!

The Coalition Government talks about refocusing councils on their core responsibilities. Yet it—like governments before it—has actively encouraged “partnership” arrangements between local government and tribes. While Wellington pretends to stand back, councils across New Zealand are committing constitutional fraud.

Steven Mark Gaskell: Cultural vetoes

Progress halted once again—this time by spiritual vibes and centuries-old ghost stories. Onoke Heights, prime real estate in Te Kamo, where a developer dared to imagine something so outrageous as homes for actual living people. 

Karl du Fresne: Shafted by their own council

So this is what it has come to. The Kapiti Coast District Council, according to today's Dominion Post, has identified 40 "sacred" Maori sites on which owners will not be allowed to subdivide, alter existing buildings, or disturb the land.

As I write this, I'm fervently hoping the citizens of the Kapiti Coast will be laying siege to the council offices and that the mayor, the councillors and the council functionaries (who I suspect are the real villains of the piece, because that's usually the case) will be cowering in terror in a basement panic room.