Letters to the Editor

What the commissioners did not tell you!

In response to the headline article Parliament May Find Solution To Rates Errors (Mangawhai Focus, 20 December 2012) the following are facts not reported in this article.

(a) The Kaipara District Council commissioners unanimously passed a resolution 18 December 2012 to engage Simpson Grierson, Auckland lawyers, at a cost of $100,000 to $150,000 to prepare a Local Bill to validate the illegal rates 2006/12.

(b) The $100,000 to $150,000 is a non-budgeted expense ie. this expense is not included in any Kaipara District Council LTP or financial budget.

(c) The proposed Local Bill is retrospective law. Retrospective law is the most draconian punitive legal instrument that can be drafted. Retrospective laws are usually drafted and used by military dictatorships.

(d) When the Local Bill is completed it is to be sponsored into the New Zealand parliament by Mr Mike Sabin, MP for the Kaipara District.

(e) There has been zero community consultation in this matter.

(f) The commissioners say that the drafting and implementation of the Local Bill is fair and the only way to solve the illegal rates problem. This move is unfair, draconian and punitive and should never occur in a democracy.

(g) A cornerstone Terms of Reference Appointment of the commissioners is that the commissioners would in good faith establish community links. The move to establish good faith relationships with the community has been brushed aside again and this move is not transparent.

Graham Mackenzie

Kaipara