Not one pothole fixed

Democrats for Social Credit deputy leader Chris Leitch has challenged the Far North District Council to stop wasting $ 100 million in ratepayers’ money over the next 10 years.

Mr Leitch used his submission to the council’s long-term plan to accuse it of planning to take $100 million out of ratepayers’ pockets for which they would get nothing in return.

“Not one new footpath, not one pothole fixed, or one metre of piping replaced, not one dusty gravel road sealed or one new water treatment plant,” he said.

“Councils have a responsibility to promote the social and economic well- being of their communities, yet the council is going to take at least $10 million per year from ratepayers to pay the interest on its borrowing, when there is a much better option. If the council pursued that option it could do everything in the plan without any rates increase and without increasing fee and charges.”

The Prime Minister of Iceland had seen the “stupidity of that kind of waste” and was proposing to use his own central bank to fund government expenditure, instead of borrowed money created out of thin air by privately-owned overseas banks.

“That means no waste of taxpayers’ hard- earned dollars on interest payments,” Mr Leitch said, calling on the council to work with others across the country to get central bank funding approved by the government.

There was absolutely no doubt that the Reserve Bank had the ability to fund local body capital projects, and the legislative ability for it to do so was already in place.

“Loan funding from the Reserve Bank would provide substantial benefits for ratepayers,” Mr Leitch concluded.