
Terry.Vercoe
7.6K posts

Terry.Vercoe
@TerryVercoe
Bringing forth new realities in the service of others & embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality itself New Zealand



"No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produce." Thomas Sowell Does anyone else think a country with a 9bn deficit shouldn't be increasing it's number of public servants? Thanks for the quality chart @spidercatnz







Something is going badly wrong in the Far North and Local Government Minister Simon Watts is apparently not willing to deal with it. A sitting Far North District councillor, Davina Smolders, has gone on Duncan Garner's podcast and blown the whistle on what’s happening inside council. What she describes is not a minor disagreement or internal politics. It is a fundamental shift in who is actually making decisions. On key council committees, unelected iwi and hapū representatives now outnumber elected councillors. These committees shape what goes to full council including spending decisions, infrastructure priorities, and ultimately the rates bills. That means people who were never elected, who cannot be voted out, and who are not accountable to the public are helping drive decisions that affect entire communities. That is not how democracy is supposed to work. Councillor Smolders has raised concerns, followed the process, and formally called for a Crown Observer to be appointed so there is independent oversight of what’s going on. Local residents have backed her. The Minister of Local Government, Simon Watts, has been made aware. And nothing has happened. If the Government won’t step in when there are credible concerns about democratic accountability breaking down, then what exactly is their job? This won’t stay in the Far North. If this is allowed to continue, other councils will follow. And before long, decisions about your community will be made by people you never voted for. We’ve launched a petition calling on the Government to act and appoint a Crown Observer immediately. If you think decisions about your community should be made by people you can vote for, and vote out, then you need to pay attention to this. Sign the petition and watch Davina Smolders' interview here: hobsonspledge.nz/stop-the_far-n… This only gets ignored if people stay quiet. Don’t stay quiet.







Fully ‘vaccinated’ actress and model Shefali Jariwala dies from cardiac arrest age 42. 🥺🙏🏼













The clean car discount was making New Zealand’s vehicle fleet cleaner, cheaper to run, and helping us to be more resilient in an unstable world. Its cancellation was a massive own goal by the Luxon Government and is now seriously costing New Zealand.


𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐃: $𝟑𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫? The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that the Ministry for Ethnic Communities funded $30,000 for Asturlab Cultural Centre to run a nationwide advocacy campaign, using taxpayer funds to promote pro-Palestinian narratives on the conflict in Gaza. This funding comes from the Ethnic Communities Development Fund which distributes $4.2 million of taxpayer money each year and follows a select committee report finding the Ministry has no clear evidence of achieving any meaningful outcomes. Taxpayers Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley said: “OIA documents show $30,000 was handed to the Asturlab Cultural Centre in Christchurch to run the ‘4 for 40 Stop the Silence Campaign’ - a Gaza advocacy campaign aimed at shifting public opinion toward a ceasefire and accusing Israel of genocide.. How does a government body funding an explicitly political campaign support our ethnic communities?” "We've all seen posters around town accusing Israel of such things. Not in a million years would anyone expect them to be taxpayer-funded." “The fund’s own rules say it does not support political objectives, yet this application was approved within days, with a Ministry advisor even helping tweak it to get over the line.” “Looking through the full list of funded projects, you see everything from swimming lessons for Pakistani women to events like Wellington’s CubaDupa festival. When the Ministry has already been found to have no clear achievements, taxpayers deserve to know what exactly they’re getting for their money.” “New Zealand already has multiple agencies funding and advising on community development, social cohesion, and diversity. Would it not be far cheaper to wind up these demographic ministries and have the work picked up by existing bodies like the Human Rights Commission?” nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/po… assets.nationbuilder.com/taxpayers/page…












