{"id":994,"date":"2025-07-19T06:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daveforcouncil.nz\/?p=994"},"modified":"2025-07-19T06:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:26:11","slug":"letter-whakatane-action-groups-core-group-conspiracy-theory-exposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/?p=994","title":{"rendered":"Letter: Whakat\u0101ne Action Group’s ‘Core Group’ Conspiracy Theory Exposed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/a> Dave Stewart PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

Dave Stewart<\/em><\/p>\n

I read with great interest the article in Wednesday\u2019s Beacon (Rates rises ranked across the country<\/a>) about how Whakat\u0101ne\u2019s rates rises sit at 15th highest in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

I researched and found the article on the Taxpayer\u2019s Union right wing Think Tank website and I simply couldn\u2019t believe what I was reading.<\/p>\n

Whakat\u0101ne Action Group (WAG) has long blamed the Whakat\u0101ne District Council debt on what it refers to as a \u201ccore group\u201d of four spendthrift councillors.<\/p>\n

As recently as May 28 (Core Group Needs to Review Stance<\/a>) and July 2nd (Council need to live within our means<\/a>) a WAG stalwart, very closely echoed former WAG head sherrang and now would-be mayor Philip Jacobs, by repeatedly referring to this core group as responsible for our \u201cballooning debt\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Union list, and I guess those below us.<\/p>\n

It seems to me that the Taxpayers Union list proves beyond all doubt that there is a systematic problem at play here.<\/p>\n

My research tells me that central Government\u2019s ongoing multi-million demands on ratepayers is the real cause of the problem all councils are facing.<\/p>\n

People who weaponise misinformation to advance their own personal political agendas need to be weeded out of our political system. I think we can all agree Whakat\u0101ne deserves better than that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s Union list, and I guess those below us as well. . . . → Read More: Letter: Whakat\u0101ne Action Group’s ‘Core Group’ Conspiracy Theory Exposed?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7411,"featured_media":997,"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":"Letter: Whakat\u0101ne Action Group's 'Core Group' Conspiracy Theory Exposed?\n\nIf 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\u2019s Union list, and I guess those below us as well.","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":[121,129,128],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-press","category-letters","category-whakatane-beacon","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=exposures-the-blog","embedCode":"

Letter: Whakat\u0101ne Action Group’s ‘Core Group’ Conspiracy Theory Exposed?<\/a><\/blockquote>