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  "description": "Far North Council has been taken over.",
  "path": "/it-is-worse-than-you-think/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-09T21:30:36.000Z",
  "site": "https://goodoil.news",
  "tags": [
    "Elliot Ikilei",
    "Sign the petition",
    "Brash and Mitchell"
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  "textContent": "Elliot Ikilei\n_Elliot is a trustee at Hobson’s Pledge._\n\nThings are going badly wrong in the Far North, and the Government is choosing to sit on its hands and let it happen. We have to take action now.\n\nA sitting councillor, Davina Smolders, has come forward in an interview with Duncan Garner on his podcast and described what is happening inside the Far North District Council. This is no petty disagreement over policy. It is a fundamental shift in who is exercising power and the complete overriding of democracy.\n\nWe are calling for Minister for Local Government Simon Watts to step in and appoint a Crown Observer.\n\nWhy? Because Councillor Smolders says on key council committees unelected iwi and hapū representatives now outnumber elected councillors. These are not advisory positions where they simply provide input. These are unelected people directly making decisions that flow through to full council: decisions that determine spending, priorities, and the rates that local families are forced to pay.\n\nThat means the people driving key decisions are, in many cases, not elected by the public, not accountable to voters, and not removable through any democratic process.\n\nThis is a direct challenge to the basic idea of representative government in New Zealand.\n\nCouncillor Smolders has done exactly what you would expect from someone taking their role seriously. She has raised concerns internally, attempted to work through the proper channels, and ultimately gone to central government asking for intervention.\n\nShe has called for a Crown Observer to be appointed so that there is independent oversight of what is happening and some restoration of accountability. Local residents have backed that call. Their concerns have been put clearly and directly to the Minister of Local Government, Simon Watts.\n\nAnd nothing has happened.\n\nMinister Watts has been made aware that a large number of unelected people have effectively taken over a council and he has done nothing. No intervention. No sense of urgency.\n\nIs anyone else in the government aware of this? It isn’t a trivial issue. It is extremely serious and yet it isn’t being treated with the seriousness it deserves.\n\nInaction is a decision. If the government refuses to act when there are credible concerns about democratic accountability breaking down, then it is effectively endorsing what is happening.\n\nWe have reminded them countless times before, but I’ll say it again, this government was elected with a mandate to remove co-governance. They promised to remove it. That this is happening on their watch is unacceptable. Broken promises.\n\nThis should concern people well beyond the Far North, because it will not stay contained. If arrangements like this are allowed to continue without scrutiny or pushback, they will be replicated. They will become normalised as other groups realise they can get away with just walking in and taking over.\n\nThis is how power shifts in practice... through quiet changes that most people only notice once the balance has already tipped. When they look around and notice there are more unelected members in the room than elected ones.\n\nWe have launched a petition to force this issue into the open and demand action. We are calling on the minister to appoint a Crown Observer to the Far North District Council immediately, to investigate what is happening and to ensure that democratic accountability is upheld.\n\nThis is not even an extreme demand. It is the minimum you would expect when serious concerns have been raised and the integrity of decision making is in question.\n\nIf everything is above board, then there should be no resistance to independent oversight. If it is not, then the public deserves to know.\n\nWhat is not acceptable is silence and inaction. Wake up, Minister Watts!\n\nIf you believe that decisions about your community should be made by people you can vote for, and hold accountable, then sign the petition. If you believe that the government has a responsibility to step in when those basic principles are undermined, then now is the moment to say so.\n\nSign the petition\n\nThis article was published by Brash and Mitchell.",
  "title": "It Is Worse Than You Think",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-09T21:30:35.537Z"
}