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Quotable quote

 

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” 

- Lyndon B. Johnson 

ELECTION 2026 - NZ FIRST LAST PARTY TO RELEASE LIST

 NZ First is the last party to release its party list, revealing a mix of experienced politicians, high-profile newcomers and potential future leaders. 

The top four positions remain unchanged, with Winston Peters, Shane Jones, Casey Costello and Mark Patterson retaining their places. The first significant change comes at number five, with the inclusion of former National MP and Cabinet minister Alfred Ngaro. At number six is another familiar political figure, Michael Laws, a former MP, mayor and broadcaster, followed by former National MP Harete Hipango Brownlie at number seven. 

ELECTION 2026 - OVER THE TOP

Gareth Morgan has had some unflattering things to say about the party he founded. In an opinion piece published by Newsroom, he sharply criticised The Opportunity Party's tax policies and political direction. 

 “Apart from any wealth tax being anti-entrepreneurial, the land tax of Opportunity appears to be a very poor substitute for the income tax on imputed rent that TOP 2017 proposed … Opportunity’s land tax is at best a poor proxy of taxing income from land, but more accurately can be described as a regressive wealth tax much like those proposed by Labour and the Greens [and] a major step backwards in terms of the enlightenment of New Zealand’s tax regime. 

ELECTION 2026 - FOUR THINGS THAT COULD DECIDE THE ELECTION

With support for the major parties at its lowest level since MMP was introduced in 1996, the general election is emerging as a choice between two distinct blocs, rather than individual parties: National, ACT and NZ First on the right or Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori, and the Opportunity Party on the left. 

 Recent polling suggests National has suffered the largest decline in party-vote support since the 2023 election, falling by almost 10 percentage points. NZ First appears to be a major beneficiary, gaining around five points on its 2023 result. One explanation advanced for this shift is dissatisfaction among some centre-right voters who believe National has not moved quickly or decisively enough to reverse the policies of the Ardern–Hipkins government. 

ELECTION 2026 - AROUND THE ELECTORATES

CANDIDATES LIST (main parties) 

WHANGAREI 

Candidates

Lloyd Budd  (National, 60 on the party list)

Gary Payinda  (Labour, 48)

Doug Graham (ACT, 38)

Vince Cocurullo (NZ First, 31)

National has held the Whangārei electorate in all but two elections since the seat was established in 1972. 

GLIDING ON AT THE NRC

Fancy working fewer hours without a reduction in pay? Then the Northland Regional Council may be for you.

In a split 5–4 vote, councillors decided to make permanent a trial that saw most full-time NRC employees move to a 72-hour fortnight, down from 75 hours, without any reduction in pay. The hours of part-time employees were reduced proportionately.

The estimated value of the reduction in staff time is $2.88 million a year—equivalent to around a 5% rates increase.

NORTHLAND WATERS

 Northland Waters has appointed Kate Simmonds as its first chief executive. She will take up the role on 5 October. Born and raised in Northland and now living in Kerikeri, Simmonds has extensive experience in the water sector. Her involvement with Far North District Council water projects dates back to at least 2018, and she has subsequently worked as a water-services consultant.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - T2

 

“The T2 bus lane from Kamo down to the Bank Street roundabout was a potentially disastrous decision from day one, especially from Whau Valley to the Bank Street roundabout.

Not only are businesses losing income because of a lack of parking southbound and northbound, but there is the everyday potential of heavy vehicles colliding with power poles northbound because our so-called experts at Council decided to close the parking bays on the left-hand northbound lanes. Because of this, our delivery trucks are so much closer to the poles. It is a catastrophe just simmering away, waiting to boil over. Who’s going to pay for the damage? Council? I don’t think so.

I am a recently retired truck driver, and it is decisions like this that cause headaches for my mates still doing it. Wake up councillors, get it right!” – M.P.

SMOLDERS AT 18

Far North District Councillor Davina Smolders has been ranked 18th on the ACT Party list. ACT would need to secure around 14–15% of the party vote for her to enter Parliament as a list MP. The party is currently polling at around 9%.

COUNCIL AMALGAMATION

The Government has put its controversial council amalgamation programme on hold until after the general election.

Under its “Head Start” programme, councils were invited to submit proposals for restructuring local government in their regions. Eighteen proposals were received by the August deadline, including one from Northland.

The Government says more work is required because none of the proposals received unanimous support from all councils within their respective regions.

VOTE SMART OR VOTE WASTED?

 The Māori Party is adopting a split-vote strategy for the 2026 election. It is asking supporters to vote for its electorate candidates while giving their party vote to another party on the left.

That strategy seeks to minimise the number of party votes used to elect Māori Party MPs while maximising the number elected through the electorates. The result would be to potentially increase the total number of MPs in Parliament and, more importantly, increase the chances of a left-wing coalition.

POTHOLES OR POU?

The ACT Party says money collected through fuel taxes and road-user charges should be spent maintaining and building roads—not on expensive artworks incorporated into roading projects.

It has highlighted the following examples:

·         $630,599 for the 12-metre Te Manu Rangimaarie sculpture at the Piarere roundabout near Cambridge.

·         $810,000 for the Te Waka sculpture on the Waikato Expressway.

4% RATES CAP

The Government is proposing to cap annual council rates increases within a 2–4% range. Local Government Minister Simon Watts says the cap is intended to impose greater financial discipline and give ratepayers more certainty after median rates increases of 14.2% and 9.2% over the past two years.

If National is re-elected, the new regime will begin influencing council long-term planning from next year, with the caps taking full effect in 2029. The target range will be reviewed every six years to reflect changes in costs outside councils' control.

RMA DEAD AND BURIED

 After 35 years, the Resource Management Act has finally been put to rest.

When the RMA was introduced in 1991, it was promoted as transformational environmental legislation that would enable development while protecting the environment. Simon Upton, the Environment Minister who shepherded the legislation through Parliament, said that provided its core environmental objectives were met, “what people get up to is their affair. As such, the Bill provides a more liberal regime for developers.”

QUOTABLE QUOTE

 

An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes – source not Sun Zu

QUOTABLE QUOTES

 

“When you have something to say, silence is a lie.”

 – Anon

CBD CHARM OFFENSIVE

 It seems the WDC has embarked on a good news charm offensive to restore confidence in the Central Business District. Several positive stories have appeared in the Northern Advocate recently, and it is indeed encouraging to hear that some CBD retailers are doing well and living up to the Council’s Loving it Here motto.

Positivity is welcome, but it should come with a dose of reality. Empty shops remain a very visible feature of the CBD, and decades of plans and strategies have failed to reverse the decline.

IS A BIGGER COUNCIL BETTER?

Guest column by Muriel Newman, founder of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research

The Coalition’s proposed shakeup of local government is well underway, with councils being asked to decide the shape of future mergers. But New Zealand has been here before — and there are important lessons from the past.

In the 1980s, New Zealand had around 850 local authorities. Communities also had an effective veto over amalgamations: if 15 per cent of voters petitioned for a referendum, a proposed merger could be defeated.

SILENCE TO MINISTER’S DIRECTIVE

 In the last issue of LETTERBOX, we reported that on the 30^th of June, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts had written to local councils raising concerns about the continued use of RCP8.5, which the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has dismissed as “implausible”.

He said, "...the Government does not consider it appropriate for worst-case assumptions to become the default basis for investment decisions that impose significant costs on current and future ratepayers."