Brendan Horan

Are you still deciding who to vote for as Mayor or Councillor? I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion and will defend someone's right to that opinion even if it is not the same as mine. However, in an election campaign, I am incredibly wary of misinformation so here’s some food for thought:

We’ve got candidates promising they can miraculously remove GST from your rates.

Now that sounds fantastic and has always been a great vote-catcher because who wouldn’t want that tax break? But let’s check the reality of this promise. New Zealand First have made removing GST from rates their flagship policy since 1993.

After three decades, three stints as kingmaker, and even having the Deputy Prime Minister’s seat, GST is still here, munching away at our rates bill to the tune of approximately $1.2 billion for the Government each year.

If those with actual power and a talent for deal-making couldn’t do it, is it credible that a local body politician can? Even LGNZ, a powerful lobby group representing over 60 councils, have tried every government and come up empty-handed.

These same candidates are also promising Whakatāne a “clip-on” for the Pekatahi Bridge. It’s a great campaign soundbite, but before you put your weight on that dream, fact check: Pekatahi is a 100-year-old one-lane ex-railway bridge.

A “clip-on” lane? On century-old bones? That’s asking a kiwifruit vine to hold up a bus.

The next repair project for the Pekatahi Bridge is expected to cost around $14 million, and a proper new two-lane bridge would take many millions more, one-to-two years to deliver along with traffic chaos that would make the last repair delays look tame.

This is why campaign fairy tales just don’t add up.

Voters aren’t looking for miracle workers or magicians. We want honesty, realism, and practical solutions. Things that actually have a chance of being enacted.

Whakatāne deserves leaders who can stand firmly by what they commit to, not teeter on wobbly wish lists.

So, when you vote, (and I encourage you all to vote as democracy only works when we all contribute), please choose candidates with platforms grounded in reality, because it’s our rates, our roads, and our town’s future at stake.