Last stop for McKinley report

Pat & I ventured up to Kaikohe for the last stop on the journey of the Unitary Authorities in Northland McKinley report. Glad we went, as Peter McKinley was concerned that we had memory problems, or was there nothing better to do in Northland but to follow his presentation. Still invisible, were the two drivers (Mayors), of this out of control bus/report. Was it the same old, same old? No, the number of people questioned during the compilation of his report had jumped to about 120 from the original statement of 30 made at Dargaville, when questioned. Strange, how could someone so astute make foolish mistakes like that by claiming ‘I thought the numbers were a bit light after the Dargaville meeting and had a recount’ Pleased we had gone along to 50% of the meetings, indeed, to perhaps check his memory and not ours. Another interesting quote was amongst the socio-economic ratings of Northland which ranked 1-16. All the statistics presented were at the low end of the scale 13-16. Is this a true picture of how Northland really is? Obviously all the questions asked weren’t on the presentation eg. How polluted does the Whangarei harbour get would have perhaps scored in the 1-5, but any such questions were not there. Is this then a fair and honest report, or stacked to paint a picture that was required for this review? Peter, when questioned, also ‘believed Northlands governance wasn’t broken’. If is not broken then why waste money fixing it, or is there a hidden agenda behind the smokescreen of this report? Please tell me, or for me personally, it’s ‘Status Quo’ with modifications, if necessary, to move Northland forward in a responsible manner. Don’t forget to have your say on Northlands future.

Warren Slater

Maunu