Auckland councillors crossed swords, singling out one another and raising impassioned concerns on debt borrowing, rates and selling council’s shares in Auckland Airport before deciding on their annual budget.

Elected members ended yesterday’s meeting undecided but council reconvened this morning to hash out amendments to Mayor Wayne Brown’s budget proposal, before finally voting to approve it.

The governing body of the city with the Pacific’s largest Polynesian population spent the majority of the day going back and forth on many of the points previously raised at the initial meeting yesterday.

The morning finished with council voting to reject the first tabled amendment, going back to square one.

Councillor Chris Darby said if the discussion was like “eating rats”, then council had rat flesh in its teeth.

It was a tense atmosphere in the council chamber, with much back and forth and very little compromise from councillors.

As the meeting dragged on, two members of the public gallery began to speak up, urging councillors to think of the impact the budget would have on the community.

They yelled at council to listen to them, and to spend time in their communities to see the impacts of their budget first hand.

The mayor adjourned the meeting briefly and ordered the two women be removed from the council chamber.

The meeting came to a head, as the council voted to pass the mayor’s proposal, which meant selling about 7 percent of the council’s 18.09 percent shareholding

It also means an average residential rates increase of 7.7 percent.

During the meeting, Christine Fletcher said the discussions held around the budget would serve as good lessons for the governing body.

“There are some magnificent opportunities for all of us to provide leadership,” she said.

As the vote was cast, another member of the public called out, “shame on all of you”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A collective of community groups in Tahiti trying to preserve a historical-cultural icon at Tautira have condemned the Tahitian government for “deliberately trying to destroy our heritage”.

The iconic Tahua-Reva is the community’s sacred mountain on the southeastern tip of Tahiti-Iti, the smaller section adjoining the main island of Tahiti.

The community groups have appealed for help in their campaign to save the mountainside.

“All the government sees is [that] the mountainʻs cliff must be secured to protect against tumbling rocks, and they came up with no alternative other than dynamite [it] because they say itʻs a cheaper solution,” wrote Vaihei Paepaetaata, a voice of the community groups trying to save the mountainside, in a letter today to Asia Pacific Report.

“Their experts say the danger arises from three stones, 50 tonnes each, which threaten to
collapse on the road at the foot of  Tahua-Reva mountain. But for us the danger is the
loss of our heritage, the loss of our history and identity.”

Cultural educator and linguist Paepaetaata said that was why she was seeking help in relaying information “as widely as possible” on behalf of her community of Tautira.

“It is absolutely unacceptable for us that such a decision be taken without any consultation with the population. This cultural site is of capital importance for Polynesian heritage in so far as its history is intimately linked to the marae Tapu-Tapu-Tea, which is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“These three stones carry a story and have a powerful energy. They are a resting place for
the departing souls before they rise to the firmament called Rauhotu No’ano’a.

“Tahua-Reva is a place of collective memory but unfortunately it is not registered, so no
law can protect her from being damaged by humans.

“Tahua-Reva allows me and everyone in my community from Tautira to claim our
affiliation to the land and to say:

I have a mountain, its name is TAHUA-REVA
E MOU’A TŌ’U, ‘O TAHUA-REVA
I have a water, it is called VAIT -PIHA
E VAI TŌ’U, ‘O VAIT PIHA
I have a piece of land, it is called FATUTIRA-I-TE-TAI-PA’A’INA
E FENUA TŌ’U, ‘O FATUTIRA-I-TE-TAI-PA’A’INA

“This chant is taught to young children from preschool. What will we show to our children if
our mountain is destroyed?

“What meaning will we give to this desecration? What legacy will we leave for them tomorrow?”

Paepaetaata has appealed to Pacific journalists to take up the issue and report their concerns.

#ProtectTahuaReva

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz