{"id":1198,"date":"2025-10-03T06:43:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T17:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daveforcouncil.nz\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2026-04-29T23:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T11:04:28","slug":"article-candidate-promises-to-focus-on-rates-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/?p=1198","title":{"rendered":"Article: Candidate promises to focus on rates reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/a> Diane McCarthy PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

REAL Rates Reform is upon us and the way to get is to make it an election issue in 2026<\/p>\n

You can stand on the sideline and rubbish the idea, or you can roll up your sleeves and support the campaign to bring real relief to unaffordable rates.<\/p>\n

Who’s side are you on, Wellington or Whakat\u0101ne?<\/p>\n

Today I am announcing my intention to form The Ratepayers Union of Aotearoa New Zealand<\/a> and build a nationwide movement to make REAL Rates Reform an issue in the 2026 General Election.<\/p>\n

Support the campaign on Facebook<\/a> as we unite to bring REAL Rates Reform to people struggling to pay rates.<\/p>\n

\n

Eastern Bay App – Beacon Media Group- Candidate promises to focus on rates reform<\/h3>\n
\"SOAP

SOAP BOX REFORMER: Whakat\u0101ne council candidate Dave Stewart says he will not get off his soap box on the subject of rates reform, especially when he spies such a well made one at a hand-made soap stall at the Whakat\u0101ne Sunday Market. Photo supplied<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Whakat\u0101ne District Council election candidate Dave Stewart plans to form a ratepayer\u2019s union to lead a national campaign for rates reform in the lead up to next year\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n

Rates reform has been at the forefront of his campaign for a Whakat\u0101ne-\u014chope ward seat on council, and he announced this week that he plans to form an incorporated society after the election, to campaign for this.<\/p>\n

If he wins a seat on council, when he is not busy attending to those duties, he plans to travel the country gathering support for his campaign through town hall meetings and visiting councils.<\/p>\n

A former union secretary for the Railway Trades Association, he later spent 41 years building up a business as a photo-finish operator for NZ Racing and said he was used to travelling 50,000 kilometres a year around New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Mayoral candidate Nandor Tanczos has also talked about rates reform during his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a tax on a tax,\u201d he said of councils having to pay GST on rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s totally unjust. Taking GST off rates would be a 5- to- 15 percent cut on your rates and that will really help with affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has also said it is wrong that the Government does not pay rates on Crown land.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Crown should be paying rates because they use the services just like everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, another Whakat\u0101ne-\u014chope ward candidate, Brendan Horan, says anyone promising rates reform as an election tactic was \u201cselling a fantasy\u201d.<\/p>\n

A former New Zealand First MP, Mr Horan said since it was founded in 1993, New Zealand First had held a policy of returning GST from rates to the local councils.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve never been able to get it across the line, despite being kingmakers in three separate elections and party leader Winston Peters being deputy prime minister three times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s going to cost the Government $1.1 billion to 1.2 billion. They\u2019re never going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI fail to see how Nandor Tanczos can get it across the line. It\u2019s not doable. It\u2019s lying to people, putting out misinformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone gets in as mayor by devious purposes that\u2019s just wrong for Whakat\u0101ne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Tanczos said Mr Stewart had done a great job of bringing this to public attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he is right. The only way to make rates more affordable is through rates reform. This is not a quick fix and Whakat\u0101ne can’t do this on our own, but it is worth having a go.<\/p>\n

“We need to work with other councils through Local Government New Zealand, including all of us lobbying government and opposition MPs to get it on the agenda for next year’s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cShane Jones’ Provincial Growth Fund lolly scramble cost more than this, so it’s not about the amount. It’s about the political will.”<\/p>\n

Mayor Victor Luca campaigned at the 2022 election that he would lobby central Government for better funding of council infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see very early on that we were in a bind, that council\u2019s funding system is broken. \u201cCouncils are creatures of statute. All we have is the power to rate. Governments would like us to pay for everything while they hold all the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all want some of that GST share. But we have a lobbying group. It\u2019s called Local Government New Zealand. They\u2019ve been campaigning on the GST issue for at least as long as I have been in local government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it extremely unlikely, given that LGNZ has been hammering that point, that someone like David Stewart is going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Stewart said he was sorry some people thought Government priorities couldn\u2019t be changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat politicians respond to is votes, and there are votes in rates reform. I can prove this, but I\u2019m not going to be able to do it on my own. I\u2019m going to need numbers.<\/p>\n

“Rates reform has to come. It\u2019s only a matter of time. It\u2019s going to need a national movement to pressurise the Government. Someone has to lead it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that politicians have campaigned on this and have got support for it, but they haven\u2019t got it across the line because they haven\u2019t pushed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they need is to be reminded by the voters that this is something they must do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He feels the Government is well able to part with $1.2 billion to support councils.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was $3 billion for landlords, there was $15 billion for tax cuts. There was $18 billion that fell out of the no-money tree for military spending.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source Diane McCarthy PDF<\/p>\n

REAL Rates Reform is upon us and the way to get is to make it an election issue in 2026<\/p>\n

You can stand on the sideline and rubbish the idea, or you can roll up your sleeves and support the campaign to bring real relief to unaffordable rates.<\/p>\n

Who’s side are . . . → Read More: Article: Candidate promises to focus on rates reform<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7410,"featured_media":1236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Article: Candidate promises to focus on rates reform.\r\n\r\nMr Stewart said he was sorry some people thought Government priorities couldn\u2019t be changed.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat politicians respond to is votes, and there are votes in rates reform. I can prove this, but I\u2019m not going to be able to do it on my own. I\u2019m going to need numbers.\r\n\r\n\"Rates reform has to come. It\u2019s only a matter of time. It\u2019s going to need a national movement to pressurise the Government. Someone has to lead it.\r\n\r\n\u201cI know that politicians have campaigned on this and have got support for it, but they haven\u2019t got it across the line because they haven\u2019t pushed it.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat they need is to be reminded by the voters that this is something they must do.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe feels the Government is well able to part with $1.2 billion to support councils.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere was $3 billion for landlords, there was $15 billion for tax cuts. There was $18 billion that fell out of the no-money tree for military spending.\u201d","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[123,121,122],"tags":[146,143,137,138,139,132,150,147,136],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dave-for-council-25","category-from-the-press","category-news-clippings","tag-affordability","tag-council-reform","tag-lgnz","tag-rates","tag-rates-increases","tag-tax-cuts","tag-unaffordability","tag-whakatane-election-2025","tag-whakatane-v-wellington","odd"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/dfc.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/?feed=podcast&podcast_series=exposures-the-blog","embedCode":"

Article: Candidate promises to focus on rates reform<\/a><\/blockquote>