democracy seems not a reality in lower hutt cc - continued
so it seems local gvt and especially those with central ties such as campbell barry - they dont want people who may not agree - and these are the people that are meant to run OUR CITY with OUR MONEY
Dear Byron,
I can't believe I'm writing this – we’ve been banned from the Local Government New Zealand conference on "the future of local government" that opened this afternoon in Palmerston North. And LGNZ has even banned you!
Late yesterday, the Taxpayers’ Union was notified by LGNZ that our registration for the conference had been revoked and we were no longer welcome.
That’s 180,000 registered supporters like you, our staff, and board members – LGNZ has said that no one from or representing the Taxpayers' Union is permitted to attend.
We asked whether Chris Milne, a sitting City Councillor who is on our Board could go – LGNZ doubled down and said, "not if he's representing the Taxpayers' Union".
Byron, I've never been banned from anything!
I called Stuart Crosby, LGNZ's President, to ask what his concern was. While I'm all for humorous stunts outside an event, or holding politicians to account, the idea that we'd storm the stage, or disrupt the event is ridiculous. We wanted to listen to the Minster of Local Government and all of the other speakers about their 'vision' for local government, Three Waters, and the other agenda items.
To our astonishment, the justification for the banning was that "the Taxpayers' Union has previously criticised LGNZ". The President of LGNZ said that we are not welcome because "we don't trust what you might say" about the event.
In short, without any appreciation of the irony, LGNZ is gathering together 400 stakeholders to discuss 'the future of local government', democracy, diversity, and Three Waters – but won't allow groups who disagree with them or the Government!
The ban applies to the Taxpayers' Union, our supporters, and even our Ratepayers' Alliance off-shoots in Auckland and Tauranga. That means no ratepayer groups will be at the event.
Remember, LGNZ is 100% funded by ratepayer and taxpayer money! They are the same group who were in the media just this morning calling for more diversity in local government.
Yes, we have criticised LGNZ in the past – we've criticised them for being politically biased, and un-transparent! Talk about proving the point...
Apparently, the 'future of local democracy' won't include you!
Byron, the context of all this is that Stuart Crosby and LGNZ have taken money from the Government to promote Nanaia Mahuta's Three Waters regime. He signed the infamous Heads of Agreement / Three Waters Partnership behind the backs of his own members. So the obvious question is, did the Beehive lean on LGNZ to ensure we couldn't be there?
Democracy's future is worth fighting for
Byron, the events of the last 24 hours illustrate why we must not let local government become the vehicle of an unelected ivory tower elite. If LGNZ – tasked with promoting local democracy – is banning ratepayer voices from discussions on proposed changes to local government, what trust do you have that ratepayers will be a part of the results?
So I am emailing to ask you to speak up for democratic control and accountability.
If you agree that democracy should include those who disagree with the government and their sock puppet groups like LGNZ, please take a moment to send an email to those who made this outrageous decision.
Tell the LGNZ President, Council, and the mayors that ratepayers like you should be at the table of these discussions. Local democracy shouldn't be limited to a special club of people and organisations that the elite happen to agree with.
The team worked overnight and most of today to create an email tool to make contacting the LGNZ leadership easy. They are relying on you to deliver the message at www.BannedByLGNZ.nz...
In my eight years working for the Taxpayers' Union I've seen plenty of underhanded tactics from politicians. But this one certainly takes the cake.
On Three Waters the Government has attempted to buy council support (there's another "b" word for that...), engaged in a disinformation advertising campaign, and tried to smear those opposing the expensive and anti-democratic water reforms as 'racist'.
But LGNZ's silencing of the dissenting voice of ratepayers shows that despite what LGNZ says, they don't care for democracy at all. They only care for democracy if you're on their side!
This certainly seems to contradict the LGNZ website that says: "Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to be the most active and inclusive local democracy in the world."
New Zealanders should not have to worry that if they criticise the policies and actions of the Government and affiliated organisations they will be banned from Government-sponsored events.
The future of local democracy relies on robust debate and the accountability of elected officials and public servants to ratepayers.
Thank you for your support.
Jordan Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.
Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.
This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
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85.2% Yes
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scumbags
There are some really awful people around at the moment. This is what happened on Sunday.
We live in Hinemoa Street opposite the Waiwhetu Stream. At around 3.40 in the afternoon I was looking out my window and saw a car pull up and start to feed the geese and ducks out the window. Then The passenger an asian man jumped out and threw himself onto a goose. he picked it up and put it the boot of the car.
I immediately ran over and stood in front of his car to stop him moving I also called my husband to help. A lovely man was riding his bike and saw it and stopped to help me. The driver tried to drive into me but I didnt move. He tried telling us it was his pet. These are wild geese.
They had a cage in the boot and some wire all ready to catch the poor bird like they have done it before. My husband took the bird from the car and released it. I then moved out of the way and after lots of abuse from the driver they drove off threatening to come back and get more.
No one should be allowed to take these beautiful birds and certainly not like this. they are all starting to have wee babies at the moment the whole thing was so upsetting to me. Another neighbour further down the road also saw it all happen.
Please keep a look out for this car and if you see them by the stream go over and watch them lets all stop this happening.
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.