By Dexter, on October 10th, 2025 
Mayor Victor Luca campaigned at the 2022 election that he would lobby central Government for better funding of council infrastructure and then explains he left it up to Local Government New Zealand to do the lobbying. Brendan Horan, who campaigned and won a list seat for New Zealand First on their policies proclaims “anyone promising rates reform as an election tactic was selling a fantasy”. I find myself in the bizarre position of being slammed by people for promoting the very policies they support. . . . → Read More: Letter: Defending one’s self from attack
By DaveForCouncil, on October 8th, 2025 
Ratepayers and local district councils suffer from an inefficient rates and infrastructure financing system. A paradigm shift in our thinking is required to prevent fixed income homeowners being forced out of their homes and stretching household budgets beyond limits for most of the rest. Several candidates vying for Whakatāne District Council suggest we should not be campaigning for recovery of GST on property rates since politicians have tried before and failed. Others suggest capping rates without alternative funding options, a user-pay approach that has bankrupted councils in the UK and Australia. I would like to share an example of a successful property rate valuation and financing system in California. . . . → Read More: Opinion: Ratepayers need a more efficient property rate and valuation system
By Dexter, on October 1st, 2025
This campaign of lies and misinformation has found it’s way into the election campaign meetings now and the problem is that candidates have a limited time to address audiences with their policies and vision for a better Whakatāne, without having to correct politically motivated BS. . . . → Read More: Letter: Frustrating campaign of misinformation
By DaveForCouncil, on October 1st, 2025
Source Dave Stewart PDF
I feel I must respond to Keith Melville’s latest letter “GST refund not the answer” (Beacon, September 24).
Mr Melville has been vocal in claiming he wants the council to offer ratepayers a better deal but supports only candidates who offer very little in the way of substance.
Nationally, the local . . . → Read More: Opinion: Real reform required, not tinkering
By DaveForCouncil, on August 30th, 2025
Rates are going through the roof and people are struggling. Even so, I’m going to say something that most mayoral candidates won’t admit. Rates are going to keep going up and anyone who promises that they can stop that happening is lying to you. The Government would sack the council and install commissioners if we did what it would take to stop rates increasing. . . . → Read More: Opinion: What the heck is happening with rates?
By Dexter, on August 30th, 2025
Since the election of the National-led coalition government, 33,000 more people were unemployed, we’re in the deepest recession in 30 years (aside from Covid), record numbers of people are needing government support to get by, free prescriptions have been cut, half-priced public transport has been cut, food bank funding has been cut and all this despite borrowing $15 billion dollars to fund tax cuts that we were told would fix the cost of living crisis. While the Government shovelled billions to big tobacco and mining companies, 2700 businesses went bankrupt in the last year, and to top it off I read that Nicola Willis burned $671 million from the Bank of Taxpayers on no new ferries. . . . → Read More: Letter: Who’s to blame for dormant town centre?
By Dexter, on August 26th, 2025 I have to assume when he says “rights”, he’s talking about the parties on the right, because the voter suppression efforts he is in support of have had a tendency to favour the “right”. . . . → Read More: Letter: favoring The ‘Right’
By Dexter, on July 19th, 2025
If the truth is that the reason our council debt has ballooned is caused by their unidentified and unnamed core group of councillors, can WAG now explain how this villainous core group has managed to also balloon the debt on 14 councils above us on the Taxpayer’s Union list, and I guess those below us as well. . . . → Read More: Letter: Whakatāne Action Group’s ‘Core Group’ Conspiracy Theory Exposed?
By Dexter, on April 9th, 2025 Apr 9, 2025 The rest of the world is getting grumpier and grumpier and old men with bushy eyebrows and trillionaires for aides are talking about taking over countries to boost security. Just steal them, plonk an army onsite and take over. Like Vietnam, or Afghanistan. What could possibly go wrong. . . . → Read More: Letters: We really do need some good news
By Dexter, on April 2nd, 2025 
Apr 2, 2025 The Enhance Coastlands Art Project saw 19 power boxes painted by artists, including up-and-coming names, school students and art class participants. . . . → Read More: Coastlands Art Project launches this weekend
By Dexter, on March 21st, 2025
Mar 21, 2025 If you hear a bigot attacking diversity, equity and inclusion, ask them what it is they are against. Is it diversity, is it equality, or is it inclusion? And then ask them to tell you what they have against any of these things. I promise you it’s a conversation that will bring a smile to your face. . . . → Read More: Letter: How times have changed
By Dexter, on January 21st, 2025
Jan 31 2025 It’s time to stand up to Wellington as one voice and that time is now. . . . → Read More: Letter: Let’s work together
By Dexter, on December 23rd, 2024
Dec 20, 2024 WAG are using rhetoric that suits their argument but is at odds with the truth. This is becoming a concerning habit, especially around a democratic process. . . . → Read More: Letter: We are still a democracy
By DaveForCouncil, on November 15th, 2024
Nov 15, 2024 I know a small number of people would love an autocratic mayor, but to those people I simply ask this question – what if that mayor was me? . . . → Read More: Letter: Pushing for autocratic structure
By Dexter, on October 25th, 2024
Oct 25, 2024 I took the liberty of asking to see the minutes of the meeting where the master plan was approved and found that, along with a new toilet, we are getting new lights, improved pedestrian access, better facilities for disabled ratepayers, more cohesion with the RSA next door for our memorial services, lighting and improved ability to run night-time community events and a host of other enrichments which, as is now customary, were left out of the rants by the negativity brigade. . . . → Read More: Opinion: Two sides to every story
By Dexter, on October 16th, 2024
Oct 16, 2024 WHEN anyone disagrees with WAG, there’s a pile on in the Beacon letters until they give up and shut up. I’m thankful that Dave Stewart has not been bullied into silence as well. There’s more than a few of us who are also sick of WAG’s constant grumbling, negativity and disinformation, and who are pleased to see his comments published in the Beacon. . . . → Read More: Letter: Some oldies support investment in the future
By Dexter, on October 11th, 2024
Oct 11, 2024 My concerns about WAG’s negativity is that it risks hiding the costs and outcomes that are the alternatives, as we discovered after the post-election euphoria of the cancellation of the previous government’s water reforms – a $440,000,000 ratepayer bill. This concerns the risk of the support WAG have given to central Government’s attacks on local democracy under the banner of “local government reform” without knowing what it will look like. We only need to ask the good folk of Dunedin with the huge protests over the hospital cancellation or Wairarapa, with the eye watering hike in user pays road tolls, to see how badly that can turn out. . . . → Read More: Letter: Whakatane Action Group should be open to other people’s views
By Dexter, on September 13th, 2024
Sep 13, 2024 I am disappointed but not surprised that WAG does not see itself as having to offer alternatives to the programmes they criticise because, as we all know, criticising someone or something is easy. Alternatives are harder. And we do all acknowledge that there is a lot the council could do better. As my opinion piece pointed out, banging on about something you don’t like without clearly laying out the alternative has led us to face a $440,000,000 bill as the alternative to the old Three Waters legislation. I thank WAG for owning their support for this alternative. . . . → Read More: Letter: Easy to criticise, not so easy to offer alternatives
By Dexter, on August 30th, 2024
Aug 30, 2024 Whakatane Action Group are using rhetoric that suits their argument but is at odds with the truth. This is becoming a concerning habit, especially around a democratic process. . . . → Read More: Enough negativity, where are the alternatives
By Dexter, on July 12th, 2024
Jul 12, 2024 As part of the protest group Postpone The Tax Cuts, we met with Ms Kirkpatrick on May 3 this year and conveyed to her our concerns about the amount of borrowing that the National-led Coalition government would need to undertake to finance this budget. We were told to wait until the budget came out and then see if our concerns were valid. Well, it turns out Finance Minister Nicola Willis will need to borrow $28.7 billion over the next four years. That’s up by $22 billion from the $6.5 billion forecast just before Christmas that sent financial experts across the political spectrum calling on the Government to postpone the tax cuts. The tax cuts themselves will cost Ms Willis $14.7 billion. . . . → Read More: Letter: Not a budget for all New Zealanders
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