There’s nothing better than a Far North summer to celebrate the new year! Sandy beaches, barbecues, sunshine and everything in between. A couple of hundred thousand visitors agree when they flock to our district over the summer period. You add to this the cultural and historical significance of our district and we must surely be living in paradise.
Te Rerenga Wairua in the north is the spiritual departure point of our souls as they journey to the afterlife. Hokianga in the west is the home of the original settlement of Kupe, our Polynesian ancestor who first journeyed to, and whose wife named, Aotearoa. The Bay of Islands in the east is where the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Waitangi were signed. The Far North is the birthplace of the nation. Beyond this visage though, the standard of living and the infrastructure deficits facing Far Northerners are in stark contrast to the outstanding natural beauty and cultural and historical significance of where we get to call home.
The Far North is known traditionally as Te Hiku o te Ika – the Tail of the Fish. In a cultural and metaphorical sense, the tail should be steering the country to where we need to go. As the navigators for our nation, we should be the shining example of the best our country has to offer. Unfortunately, we are the shining example when it comes to almost every socio-economic deficit statistic across the board. Our roads are at risk of critical failure, our water and wastewater infrastructure are at the end of life. The nation’s new capital, the Head of the Fish, is trying to steer us, and its not working. Actually, if conversations with fellow mayors across the different parts of the Fish or the Canoe next to us are anything to go by, it’s not working for their communities either!
A new year is always a good time to plan for the future. Fortunately, I am not alone in my woes for the people of the Far North and what we need to get ahead. Local government leaders across the country also recognise the broken system that has led to us being on the back foot and came together to back a plan called the Future by Local Government. It sets out actions we need from central government to do better for Aotearoa. If I had five wishes for the new year to get the Far North ahead, I’d use them to steer our country forward by backing the five sections of our plan.
1/ Build a new system of government that’s fit for purpose
Our centralised system of government is not delivering! Bring on the devolution of power and let localism prevail so we can decide and deliver what we need to get ahead in the Far North by the Far North.
2/ Rebalance the country’s tax take between central and local government
We have around 75,000 people who call the Far North home. The tricky part about serving this population is that Far Northerners are spread over 40 different towns and villages in one of the largest geographic districts in the country. Share more funding with us so we can serve our people with innovation and locally led solutions.
3/ Create stronger, more authentic relationships between local government and iwi, hapū and Māori
Over half of Far Northerners are Māori. The current rhetoric at a central government level is not helpful to our relationships with our Te Tiriti partners here in the north. I have huge praise for the 11 iwi authorities, hundreds of hapū and 128 marae who serve the people of the Far North alongside council. Marae across our district were open to anyone in need following the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle. Authentic relationships are going to benefit all of our people.
4/ Align central, regional and local government priorities
We are required in local government to produce 10-year plans that are updated every three years. In the Far North we also have a strategic vision called the Far North 2100 to help guide us for the next 80 years. Commitment from our central government to longer-term outcomes and nation-building that is not at political risk of defunding is exactly what we need to get ahead. There is far too much talking and not enough walking. Let’s walk the talk and sing off the same song sheet.
5/ Strengthen local government leadership and democracy
We are failing in the Far North when it comes to local democracy. At a general election, we have 78 voting places across our vast district. At a local election, we can only afford three service centres for full voting. It’s no wonder voter turnout is at an all-time low and over 27,000 eligible Far North voters did not vote. Let’s look to innovation across civics education, longer election cycles, ways to vote, a lower voting age and everything and anything so that we plan to succeed.
So there you have it. Five wishes for the new year. I’d love the Far North to not only be the birthplace of the nation, but also the reinvigoration of the nation! If all else fails, I say bring the capital back to the Tail of the Fish and we’ll steer everyone ahead.
My message to all Mayors – including Moko – are to be careful what you wish for with diversified funding. If your ratepayers cannot afford whatever infrastructure is needed, then assistance from other taxpayers will come tagged to increased circumspection from outside the district. When you take in money from outside the region, you will be required to supply spending and progress reports to those that provided said funding (usually central government). That may result in less autonomy – such as Crown Observers or the council replaced by commissioners.
Unless there are safeguards in place it will also result in Coromandelisation with empty beachfront properities and restricted foreshore access to the marine resources as the holiday highway transport system gets extended beyond Whangārei!
We have to fix this. Not only in the Far North but all around Aotearoa. More than 30 beaches were closed around Auckland during the height of the holiday season – closed due to fecal contamination. Visitors to Queenstown, as well as locals, could not drink the water, again due to contamination. Here, our Far North mayor speaks about how the beautiful Hokianga Harbour is being desecrated, is on the way to becoming a sewerage pond, in effect, if action is not taken urgently: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/01/sewage-discharge-into-hokianga-harbour-culturally-abhorrent-campaigners-say.html
We cannot go on in this way, allowing our effluent, as well as that of thousands of tourists, to be discharged onto our beaches, into our bays, our lakes, our rivers. Something has to change!
We need leadership at national level which recognises what is best done locally and stops passing the buck in terms of who will pay for it. At present we are simply fixing the leaks and not the underlying problems.