“IMPLAUSIBLE” CLIMATE CHANGE

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently published its next generation of climate scenarios. The significant development is that it has now described its most extreme scenario (RCP8.5) as implausible and removed it from its scenario range, stating that the assumptions behind it describe an impossible future.

This matters to Northland because RCP8.5[*] has been widely used by central government and local councils to shape climate change policy. Those policies have imposed significant costs on consumers — including higher power and fuel prices — and restrictions on local property owners.

This represents a major shift in climate science and should serve as a wake-up call for climate policymakers at every level of government. Politicians now need to follow the IPCC’s lead: remove RCP8.5 from policy frameworks and review all policies that have been based on this implausible scenario.

EMBEDDING TE TIRITI

According to Te Ao Māori News, the Whangārei District Council (WDC) has moved a step closer to embedding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi across the organisation.

The proposal now before councillors stems from recommendations arising from a “Te Tiriti o Waitangi health check.” As reported in LETTERBOX #30, the audit was commissioned by the council’s Māori Outcomes Department without the knowledge or prior approval from councillors, for $77,293 funded from “spare” money.

The stated purpose of the Treaty of Waitangi “health check” was to help councillors better understand their “obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga,” assess the state of relations between the council and Māori, and provide recommendations for improvement.

BUDD’S BID

National has selected Lloyd Budd as its candidate for the Whangārei electorate in the November election. Budd will replace the retiring Shane Reti, who has held the seat for all but one parliamentary term since 2014.

Budd is presenting his candidacy as something of a homecoming. The 43-year-old grew up in Whangārei before pursuing a career in real estate in Auckland and overseas, including serving as chief executive of Bayleys Auckland. His father, Mike Budd, stood for the Whangārei mayoralty in 2022.

DID YOU KNOW

 Did you know that many government departments and public agencies in New Zealand do not pay general council rates?

Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 lists categories of non-rateable land. This includes certain land owned or occupied by organisations such as the Department of Conservation (DoC), the Ministry of Education, Health New Zealand, the Defence Force, and KiwiRail. Rating exemptions also apply to some churches, marae, Māori customary land, and unused Māori freehold land.

COUNCILLOR PAY

 It may come as a surprise to many, but councillors in the Far North District Council (FNDC) are paid more than their counterparts in Whangārei, despite representing a smaller council.

NAMING RIGHTS

The FNDC is seeking support from other councils for a remit to Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) that would give local authorities greater power over official place naming.

According to the council’s 2026 LGNZ remit application, the proposal calls for:

“LGNZ to advocate for legislative changes to devolve decision-making authority for officiating specified geographic place names from the Minister for Land Information to local authorities…”

The request follows a 2025 decision by the Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk, to decline an application by the Kororāreka Marae Society to change the name of Russell to Kororāreka. If these naming powers were devolved to councils, would the FNDC overturn the Minister’s decision?

JOHN STREET UPGRADE

 

The WDC is proposing a $29 million upgrade of John Street to turn it into a “pedestrian corridor” between the Town Basin and the city centre. The proposal would remove 47 car parks from John Street and turn it into a one-way street.

We question the value of removing carparks to create a pedestrian corridor when the core issue  in the CBD is a shortage of car-parking and a lack of pedestrians.

QUOTABLE QUOTE

When explaining why he decided to stand for his local Regional Council (Otago), Michael Laws said,

“Because I don’t like other bastards making decisions that affect my life when they so clearly don’t know what they are doing… I just don’t like the idea of people making decisions as to how I am going to live my life without some sort of input into it.”

AHIPARA CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

Our feature story in last month's LETTERBOX was about a decision by the FNDC in April to appoint 10 external hapū and iwi leaders to its Te Kuaka Committee for Māori Strategic Relationships. These 10 unelected members will sit alongside six elected councillors (four of whom were elected in Māori wards). The unelected members can participate fully in discussions and have full voting rights.

FAR NORTH COUNCILLOR TAKES AIM AT CO-GOVERNANCE

 A political dispute in the Far North has drawn national attention after councillor Davina Smolders publicly challenged her council’s approach to Māori representation.

At the centre of the controversy is a decision by the Far North District Council on 13 April to appoint 10 external hapū and iwi leaders to its Te Kuaka Committee for Māori Strategic Relationships. These 10 unelected members will sit alongside six elected councillors (four of whom were elected in Māori wards). The unelected members can participate fully in discussions and have full voting rights.

Nine councillors voted in favour of the motion to appoint external, non-elected representatives, with only Cr Smolders voting against it and one abstention.

T2 MADNESS

When the 6km bus lane between Kamo and Whangārei was first proposed in October 2023, LETTERBOX questioned why a bus lane (T2) was needed in Whangārei.

At the time, Cr McKenzie (now Deputy Mayor) said Whangārei needed T2 because Auckland and Wellington have them, and it “provided interesting and innovative public transport options.”

The Whangārei District Council (WDC) website is a little more specific. It says: “The T2 transit lane helps to keep Whangārei moving, reducing congestion and improving travel times by separating buses and vehicles with more than one occupant.”

TALKFEST TASKFORCE

In the March issue of LETTERBOX, we reported that Hamilton CBD shop owners noticed a significant decrease in business after the previous council reduced free parking from two hours to one hour.

LETTERBOX suggested that if the WDC is serious about attracting people back into the city, it could start with two hours of free parking across the entire CBD during normal business hours, and unrestricted parking outside those hours.

WHANGĀREI DISTRICT HOLDINGS

A new commercial property and investment arm established by the WDC is hoping to replicate the success of Far North Holdings Limited, which has accumulated total assets of $211 million and produced a net profit of $13 million last year, $5 million of which was paid out as a dividend to the council to offset rate increases. The council says Whangārei District Holdings Ltd (WDHL) is to “manage the development of council-owned property that has commercial or strategic opportunities.”

MINISTER WAVES A BIG STICK

Local Government Minister Simon Watts is not happy with the Kaipara District Council (KDC). He says it needs to commit to the Government’s local government reform programme, and has directed officials to “work” with the council on the matter.

Although the Minister is touting the reform as a local initiative, in practice it is a Government directive with a predetermined outcome. Neither the councils nor the public are likely to have a genuine say on the matter. The Minister has previously signalled that he would step in where regions fail to produce a plan outlining how their councils will work together as part of major reforms. He expects the new local government governance structures to be in place for the October 2028 local elections.

DID YOU KNOW?

 

·         In the year ended June 2025, the 14 members of the WDC received $1,129,000 in remuneration.

·         In the year ended June 2025, the WDC lost $6,988,000 on derivative contracts. It held $256 million worth of derivative contracts.

·         In the year ended June 2025, the Northland Events Centre (2021) Trust that manages the Semenoff Stadium received an annual operating grant (including rent concession) from ratepayers of $1,432,007. Weren’t we told this facility would be self-supporting?