5 January

Another beautiful example of elite rivalries. This whole debate is fake, as the sitting councillor is trying to convey here, the same lack of revenue for local government is seen in every town across the country. Rates don’t keep up with costs. But local interests battling for control of the town have turned it into a populist ‘down with the system’ fight, in the name of ‘the community’, mostly through social media. Challengers to existing control of towns and countries always use this sort of populist spin, always evoking the people or the community, to try to take control themselves. The local Trumpians. They have no real interest in the community, it’s about them trying to replace the existing leadership, with themselves. Incidentally, the full-time staff of Council, particularly senior staff, who are usually the target of the populists, don’t decide how the town’s money is spent. Only elected councillors are allowed to do that, by law. It’s why if administrators are brought into a town, they usually sack all the councillors. Not the full-time staff.