Why Are Our Rates So High?

It is Election Time Again

I am standing in the 2026 parliamentary elections as an independent candidate for the Tauranga Electorate.

It all starts this weekend. Signs go up from Saturday 5th September (mine will go up on Sunday 6th – Saturday is the Sabbath). Nominations open on Monday the 7th of September and close on Thursday 8th of October (my nomination is all set to go for Monday morning). Election day is Saturday 7th of November, with final results on Friday 27th of November.

I first got involved with local politics because of rates. Our rates are too high and they are still too high. I soon realised that it was very difficult to affect council decisions from the outside, and that I needed to be on council if I wanted an influence.

I stood in the 2024 Tauranga City Council elections and missed out by 200 votes for Papamoa. I tried again in 2025 for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and was elected for the Tauranga ward.

As a councillor I have tried to understand how council works, and what is causing the problems. Why are our rates so high? I concluded that most of the problems with councils are caused by central government. As councillors we can tinker with minor issues, but the system needs to change and that can only happen through government. To make any real changes I need to be in Parliament, so here I am standing for this election in a “safe” National seat.

What I Want To Achieve

The system needs change. New Zealand is drowning in government red tape and bureaucracy. We can see this in local government, education, schools, and government services in general.

Local government has to comply with thousands of pages of legislation in multiple acts. Every clause in the legislation costs ratepayers and taxpayers money, usually for little or no benefit. It is just more red tape, more box ticking, and more headaches for we citizens. The same applies to government departments. They are so busy complying with the thousands of pages of legislation, that very little else gets done. You and I are paying for that directly through taxes, charges and rates, and indirectly because of the damaging effect it has on the economy which negatively affects our standard of living.

The government is tinkering with water. They are not fixing the problems or making it better. We are going to have large bloated ineffective water organisations with much higher water rates as a result. More bureaucracy and red tape.

Similarly, the government is tinkering with local government. Local government does need to be fixed. The system is broken, but government does not know how to fix it. Instead they are imposing top down change without having any idea what they trying to achieve. We need to do better than that. We need some common sense (unfortunately common sense is not very common).

I would like to have a go at fixing some of our problems, starting small and using the lessons to tackle bigger problems. I need to be in Parliament to do that.

How Am I Going To Do That

As an independent I am not beholden to any party. I can act independently of party policy, party politics, party donors and the party whip. I would have a lot more independence and influence than a party back bencher. I want to work for the interests of Tauranga, the Bay, and New Zealand, not for a party agenda.

Parties are very constrained by their donors. They have large organisations to fund, with expensive election campaigns. The parties have big budgets and need big donors. The trouble is that if you accept donations you are always beholden to your donors. I am running a low budget campaign fully funded by myself. I do not need donations thank you.

I am socially conservative, and financially conservative. I could work with a National coalition, but not with Labour. If National form the government there is an opportunity to negotiate some kind of working relationship with the coalition.

I would like to be the advocate for councils in the Bay as they negotiate the local government changes. There needs to be someone to bring the councils together, help with decisions, advocate on their behalf, and make sure that it benefits the local community. There needs to be change, but that change has to be for the better. It needs a deep dive into the council functions and organisation to get the best result.

I would like to drastically reduce the amount of legislation. I would like to take a very close look at the system and how it works, identify the problems and try and fix it. That applies across the board, local government and central government. As a generalisation, the legislation is far too prescriptive and complex. It also tends to go way past its purpose. The legislation is supposed to provide a legal framework. The government uses legislation as a management tool. Legislation should not be used for management. It is the wrong tool for management.

The structure of government departments and organisations also needs to be changed. They are not effective or efficient.

Change needs to start small. FENZ might be a very good starting point. If I could make FENZ work, that might be a very good lessons learnt for the larger government departments and organisations.

All of that needs a mandate from government, resources and a budget. I would be wanting to negotiate that with a National coalition. Who knows? I am happy to take the blame if it doesn’t work, and for the government to take the credit if it does work.

Whats Next

Vote Maltby Tim for Tauranga MP