Letters to the Editor

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Anything to declare?
Response to letter from John Black (Mangawhai Focus, Sept 5.)

I have no role with the BNZ either professionally or personally.

Around 2011 I was appointed northern regional chairman of BNZ partners, a role I held for two years. In that role I provided mentorship to the Northern manager and his team, and attended BNZ functions from time to time.

During my tenure in that role I was appointed the chair of the Kaipara Review Team. We were tasked with writing a report on the state of KDC for the councillors and the then minister David Carter.

In that I role attended one meeting in Auckland with the ANZ and BNZ banks, both funding banks of KDC. Also in attendance was Steve Ruru, then CEO of KDC, and staff from the Department of Internal Affairs. The purpose of both meetings was to present KDC's financial projections. Both banks wanted comfort KDC was solvent (this was at the peak of the rates strike.)

A simple measure of solvency is that the organisation can pay creditors as they fall due and its assets are greater than liabilities. At both meetings I declared the role I had with the BNZ even though it was irrelevant to the matter under discussion.

Since that time KDC's financial woes have improved to the point that the majority of its borrowings are from the Local Government Funding Authority, not banks. I am unaware what funding is through banking lines but understand it to be minimal.

Mr Black very correctly should ensure individuals standing for Council declare any conflicts. I think he should ask all candidates whether they are in arrears with their rates as that is a huge conflict in my view. Ensuring that KDC management are pursuing rates arrears while being one of those parties would be untenable.

That of course doesn't exclude the right of individuals to take KDC to litigation, that is everyone’s right, but while that process works through, rates should be paid. In the extreme, if none of us paid our rates there would be no KDC.

Greg Gent
Ruawai
Kaipara Mayoral Candidate


Vote carefully
I would like to let your readers know that every candidate based in Kaipara standing for office has been sent a questionnaire asking them about various issues, such as whether they would support investigating small business hubs and how they would promote and protect our natural environment. The results can be viewed on kaiparaconcerns.co.nz.

Over half of the candidates have made time to reflect on the points and some others have replied more generally. From some people I haven’t heard back at all – maybe they don’t want to be scrutinised.

A friend pointed out another issue that some may not be aware of. It matters what number the voter puts with a candidate on the respective form. Because we have the Single Transferable Vote system (STV), the person you want most needs to be number 1 and if for example, there are only two Otamatea candidates that you like voting for, it is better to leave the third space empty.

I couldn’t help noticing who has their billboard plastered on every corner – interesting.

Please make an effort to vote on October 8 as we get the representatives that we deserve.

Martina Tschirky
Mangawhai


NZ history in question
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting a charming lady by the name of Monica Matamua – amber-brown skin, green eyes and golden hair, quite distinctive from NZ’s part-Maori descendants.

But there is a problem – Monica does not exist. You see, Monica is the leader of the Patupaiarehe people and her story is best described in her own words:

“I am now 82 and I wonder how long I have to live before recognition and justice is achieved for my people, the Patupaiarehe.”

“I am not Maori. I am descended from that ancient people, the Patupaiarehe who came to New Zealand over 2000 years ago.”

“My brother and I were chosen to take up our people’s fight to restore both our name and the land taken from us.”

“It is a terrible thing to experience at a marae hearing you are told to sit down and shut up, because you no longer exist.”

Thus was the learned decision of the Waitangi Tribunal.

Then I met George Connelly (Hori Kupenga Manuka Manuka.) George is the Te Upoko Ariki (paramount chief) of the Waitaha people whom he states arrived in this country in 550AD and settled initially around the Kaipara Harbour, and in 850AD spread further to the South Island.

George’s hereditary title remained secret and his location constantly changed during his childhood as the Waitaha’s historical enemies, the Ngapuhi, were intent upon eliminating the chiefly lineage of the Waitaha people.

“Six of the most recent tupuna (ancestors) who preceded me to this high position in the royal bloodline were killed and their heads hung up outside the houses of the chiefs who slew them.”

Again the Waitangi Tribunal refused to acknowledge the Waitaha as tangata whenua and classed them as a sub-tribe of the Ngai Tahu.

Perhaps it is time that a Royal Commission of Enquiry be conducted into questionable decisions of the Waitangi Tribunal so that NZ’s true history can be brought to light.

As Ngapuhi chieftain David Rankin stated: “Maori are not the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Mitch Morgan
Kaipara


Property speculators
It has come to my notice that property speculators have been trawling Kaipara District Council records looking for those with mortgages or owing arrears of thousands of dollars and approaching them to offer to buy their property.

Many of the people approached are elderly who have paid their rates over many years and now find themselves classed as ‘delinquent’ by a Council wishing to dump their debt, plus compound penalties.

This situation should stop immediately and council records should be available only to identified and authorised persons.

Adrian Bonner
Kaiwaka
Otamatea Ward Candidate

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