Fri, Jan 24, 2025 5:20 AM<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Someone’s got to sort this mess out – council candidate<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standing up: Dave Stewart plans to throw his hat in the ring for a seat on Whakat\u0101ne District Council at this year\u2019s local government elections. Photo Troy Baker E5208-13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diane McCarthy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whakat\u0101ne District Council candidate Dave Stewart promises, if nothing else, he will make local government entertaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLocal government is never interesting, and I will change that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Stewart has made a name for himself as a social media influencer with political leanings since retiring to Whakat\u0101ne 10 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been two years since I first stuck my head up over the parapet and posted it on Facebook. I stood on the roundabout in support of Jacinda Ardern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former prime minister had been the subject of personal attacks after announcing that she was stepping down from the role and Mr Stewart was not standing for it. He created placards thanking Ms Ardern for the work she had done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was surprised at the support he received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI got a little bit of hate as well, but I expected that. I didn\u2019t expect the sort of support I got and I still get that support, even now, on that and other things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More recently, a video he created poking fun with quotes from Donald Trump received millions of views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI put up a Banksie photo recently and it\u2019s had 500,000 views and 20,000 shares,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His main aim if he is voted onto council is to set in motion his plan to fix the broken funding model for local government in New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy first thing would be to lodge a claim [with the Government] for back pay. I\u2019m quite happy to take that argument to the Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the things we\u2019ve been asked to do by Government that have impacted on ratepayers should have been funded by the Government. I don\u2019t see any reason why we can\u2019t go back and argue for that, other than weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think just accepting it and saying, \u2018oh, well, the Government\u2019s said we\u2019ve got to do this, we\u2019ve got to do it\u2019. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s right. I think that\u2019s weak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of what is being put on council is being generated by central government and unless we deal with that, then we\u2019re just going to be administering a central government plan. That is not going to be good for us. I mean, look at the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think [the council] have accepted decisions they haven\u2019t liked and are probably a bit punch drunk over it. I\u2019m not. I\u2019ve been taking punches for 50 years and I\u2019m not going to be quiet. I\u2019m not going to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is quick to jump to the defence of council spending on making the town a better place to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll of our friends and family have come down to visit us here and stroked our egos about what a beautiful town we live in. I say to them, it costs us $100 a week to live here to make it beautiful. So, we get those bragging rights. Nobody says, \u2018I wish it was ugly\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNobody says, \u2018I wish it wasn\u2019t that good\u2019. We all love that our beach is the favourite beach in New Zealand, that our town\u2019s beautiful, but we hate paying for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As one of seven children growing up in Mangere East, his father a freezing worker and his mother a cleaner, Mr Stewart has always been on the side of those doing it tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He started his working life at the railway workshops at Otahuhu as an apprentice and was a union secretary for the Railway Trades Association for eight years during Government restructuring and redundancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe grew up with nothing. I eventually got my feet on the ground and am, to quote Luxon, wealthy and sorted now. But I\u2019ve never forgotten what it felt like, after working all week, only being able to afford what we needed. Not being able to afford even a chocolate bar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor far too many people, that\u2019s what it\u2019s like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spent 41 years building up a business as a photo-finish operator for New Zealand racing, auditing race results and \u201cmaking sure millions of dollars went to the right place\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m retired now, which means I\u2019m paid by the Government to be annoying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Music, specifically punk rock, has been a big part of Mr Stewart\u2019s life and these days he is a regular at Mata Brewery\u2019s open mic nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was in one of the very first punk rock bands in New Zealand, back in the \u201870s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band was called Antimusic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen punk rock came along it was kind of like my bus turned up. I\u2019ve been a punk rocker all my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been involved in music ever since. I had a little business that did guitar mods and pedals. When I used to live on the farm, I used to have an annual concert with eight or nine bands that would turn up and play to the cow paddocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His decision to stand for council was prompted by a comment he received from a friend who told him, \u201cevery council needs an outspoken thinker with sound values\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018that\u2019s me\u2019. Someone\u2019s got to sort this mess out. I\u2019ve never accepted anything that I don\u2019t like. If you don\u2019t like something, and it\u2019s wrong, stop pretending that you have to go along with it. Stand up. Things are really crook and if we don\u2019t stand up we\u2019re just going to get walked over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe we will stand up and we\u2019ll still lose, but give it a go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read The Article here…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n Fri, Jan 24, 2025 5:20 AM<\/p>\n Someone’s got to sort this mess out – council candidate<\/p>\n Standing up: Dave Stewart plans to throw his hat in the ring for a seat on Whakat\u0101ne District Council at this year\u2019s local government elections. Photo Troy Baker E5208-13<\/p>\n Diane McCarthy<\/p>\n Whakat\u0101ne District Council candidate Dave Stewart promises, . . . → Read More: Someone’s Got To Sort This Mess Out<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7410,"featured_media":0,"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":"Someone's Got To Sort This Mess Out","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":[120],"tags":[],"series":[124],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election-25","series-dave-for-council","odd"],"episode_featured_image":false,"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=dave-for-council","embedCode":"Someone’s Got To Sort This Mess Out<\/a><\/blockquote>