As you know, TRM blogs try to provide fishy stories and strive to avoid anything political. Sometimes, though, we are obliged to comment in reply to readers’ concerns, such as when Toe Paw council’s contractors butchered the majestic red oak tree across the road.
So we do not apologise for introducing a blog on local politics, as a pleasant change from fishy stories. It will amuse you. I know when TRM inmates ask about the re-election of Councillor Duncan in Taupo.
We admire him for having the courage to question and criticise the entire structure of Council proceedings and decisions. It is refreshing to get the inside untold story on so many unexplained sensitive political issues. He puts council matters into perspective and does not pull his punches. Great stuff!
Many readers do not live here, although they may have a close attachment to the region with a holiday home, or even better, regular lengthy attendance at their second home at TRM. They are supposed to be addicted to trout fishing, but often are more keen to gossip about petty local issues that seem so foolish – like Council’s pruning of a certain oak tree.
For your weekend entertainment, have a read of his witty blog: “Duncan Does Taupo” duncandoestaupo.com
Fridays Circus Starting Again
31 October 2025
Councillor Duncan reporting, and whoever said local government wasn’t interesting? Today we had our inaugural Council meeting of the new triennium, with Declarations of the newly elects to do the right thing by Taupo constituents and also a reveal of who the new Deputy Mayor will be. The Council media team are right onto it and although we aren’t quite up to livestreaming yet, you can watch the 30 min proceedings here or read about it here on the Council page.
Mayor John Funnell’s choice of Deputy is an interesting one, and will be controversial with some. Cr Kevin Taylor was also the Deputy Mayor under the previous Mayor David Trewavas, and so might not represent the clean break with the past that the 63% of Taupo District voters who voted for change were expecting. Like myself, Mayor Funnell stood on the key election pledges of transparent decision making and tying rates to inflation – not what Taupo constituents have been experiencing to date, and not what Cr Taylor aspires very much to in my experience either. Kevin and I haven’t always seen eye to eye by quite a long shot, so I wonder how things will be different this time around. Then again, we do both claim to be Christian men of faith, so it won’t be a very good look if we don’t even try to get along, will it? So we will just have to see.
This week we also have:
Passengers beware: Bus driver killed in fiery Auckland crash with an electrical engineering professor subsequently inferring that lithium battery buses are a risk in any collision and we should be wary. Any bus passengers in Taupo worried about safety, had perhaps better sit close to the emergency doors – because as far as I know, our only commuter bus is electric.
Dubious distinctions: The Ombudsman’s Office had a record year with complaints up 30% from the previous year. For any regular business this would be something to be proud of, but certainly not this one. Do we even have a Public Service to speak of anymore? I have my sincere doubts, and my experience of the Ombudsman is that they stick up for bureaucrats like themselves more than the public interest. I say New Zealand’s reputation as one of the least corrupt places in the world is hard to imagine as deserved, and perhaps it’s the strict definition of ‘corruption’ which needs updating.
Corruption or incompetent? While we are on that subject, Erika Harvey of Lobby for Good does an interview with David Baker of RapidQS who says he could, without fail, shave 30% off the price of most Council projects valued under $100K. Erika also muses that commission-based litigation of the United States hands down beats the New Zealand system for the average person to be able to claim damages. Sad or maddening, take your pick.
Who owns the coast? Elliot Ikilei of Hobsons Pledge puts out his view about the passing of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Amendment Bill and applauds New Zealand First MP Casey Costello for helping to make it happen. Casey was formerly with Hobsons Pledge and around two years ago offered to come down from Auckland and present to Taupo District Council free of charge, but elected members of the time didn’t want to hear about it. I really wish Casey could have made the trip and got listened to, because she has some interesting stories which might have helped broaden some of the narrower points of view.
Class ‘N’ word Act: In this interview Mayor Nobby Clark (former) of Invercargill makes left-wing interviewer Guy Williams very uncomfortable in a humorous way with his frequent use of the ‘N’ word. I reckon that Taupo District Councillor who in 2020 got pinged for doing exactly the same thing only accidentally – should perhaps have done it with as much gusto as Nobby to avoid himself all that trouble.
Judge knows best: Kaipara mayor survives recount bid because a judge decides that a 21 vote margin isn’t reason enough to justify. Because the electoral process is bulletproof and people in this country don’t make ever mistakes or manipulate. Yeah, right.
Most successful worst Mayor ever? Blogger Bruce gives his 13 min take on South Waikato Mayor Gary Petley’s narrow win. The 70% who voted for change didn’t get their wish, greater than the 63% for Taupo – think about that. I think Bruce does a great job of keeping elected members accountable, and encourages anyone else out there with some spare time to do similar.
Not fitting in: Given the playground atmosphere of the last Council which I have mentioned in previous posts, I reckon this social experiment demonstrating learned helplessness of adolescents is also relevant for newly elected members to please take note. And a reminder that complacent participation for fear of exposing one’s ignorance or naivety is not going to be of much benefit to the people you represent. Much better to ask dumb questions than to stay silent and portray a disingenuous wisdom.
Council follies: Here is Duncan Garner’s latest podcast this time about Taupo District Council’s new building. I suppose it is old news around here and we are certainly not the only Council to commit follies like the ones this Tauranga based advocacy group is getting stuck into.
But I reckon it pays to reflect and remember so that the same mistakes don’t happen again, and if I ever get to be Mayor of this place do pledge to you now to put a plaque where the old Council building used to be on Lake Terrace to help us do just that (and paid for out of your rates).
Staff costing too much? While we are on that subject here is Sophie M Smith’s latest piece entitled Inside the Machine: What 430 Staff and 9 Comms People Tell Us About Taupō District Council. I think staff numbers are an important part of the story, but not all of the story. The other is how much is spent on consultants and contractors, with a Taxpayer’s Union report of 2023 indicating that TDC spent $50M as opposed to similar pop. Councils of Invercargill and Kapiti Coast which each spent less than $5M (I mention this in one of my 2025 Campaign pages). I have not been able to 100% confirm the veracity of those figures, but intend to follow this up for 2025/26. Because high staff numbers can be acceptable if it means we are spending less on consultants, but it seems we might be getting the worst of both worlds.
Cutting corners: Anyone driving the new roundabout at the intersection of Crown Road and Taharepa Road better not do what the picture shows, because that would be illegal and maybe even dangerous. Bridge engineers work with steel and concrete, but for traffic engineers like me our material is humans – and with experience, they aren’t so unpredictable. So let’s see what happens.
Oops got that one wrong: Here Bill Gates backpedals on climate change and Donald Trump pounces on him for doing it. I learnt some time ago that the cooler periods of Earth history were worse for agriculture and humanity, if Bill Gates is so smart then how come it took him this long to realise?
Tribalism not so good: Here we have Tom Henry’s interesting take on tribalism as it relates to the Scottish clans and New Zealand in 2025, saying in his summation: “NZ has reached the stage where government miss-management, tribalism preferred over democracy, lack of real practical education, corporatisation, amalgamation, centralisation, the introduction of preference and privilege depending on who by race or association and connection, all have combined to intentionally hand this country over to the Globalists, one massive tribal system that wants individualism crushed, and humanity replaced”. Is he right, and is it too late anyway?
Friday because it’s Halloween: And I am fairly sure it was The Warehouse who slipped that formerly unknown tradition into New Zealand before we could even realise what was happening.
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