The Star: April 15, 2021
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<strong>The</strong> city council ultimately<br />
voted to decline the amendment.<br />
Said Dalziel during the meeting:<br />
“Disappointingly, for me, I’ve<br />
been told that I have to accept<br />
this dreadful amendment.”<br />
MacDonald replied: “It’s<br />
healthy for democracy.”<br />
City councillors including<br />
Turner, Mike Davidson, Melanie<br />
Coker, Sara Templeton, Tim<br />
Scandrett, Anne Galloway and<br />
Yani Johanson also voiced opposition<br />
to the amendment at the<br />
meeting.<br />
<strong>The</strong> decision means the city<br />
council’s final submission to<br />
ECan will not include any mention<br />
of rates increases.<br />
Dalziel said at the meeting:<br />
“It is frustrating that we end up<br />
having these debates around<br />
headlines and slogans instead of<br />
debating the real, serious, challenging<br />
issues that we have as a<br />
city in the context of our regional<br />
council’s Long Term Plan.<br />
“Focusing on one aspect of it<br />
[the 24.5 per cent rate increase] –<br />
a headline story – doesn’t cut the<br />
mustard.<br />
“We are required to think for<br />
the current generation, but also<br />
for future generations as well.”<br />
Dalziel told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> the<br />
amendment got in the way of<br />
more important discussion about<br />
specific challenges ECan’s LTP<br />
aims to address, including nitrates<br />
in water, ensuring compliance<br />
with air quality and buses.<br />
MacDonald said he feels the<br />
amendment proposal was “shot<br />
down” and was disappointed<br />
with how, he believes, he was accused<br />
of “headline grabbing.”<br />
“In a democracy, there’s nothing<br />
wrong with someone like me<br />
raising valid concerns over proposals<br />
the council are raising. To<br />
be dismissed like that, it should<br />
alarm, I think, a lot of ratepayers,”<br />
he said.<br />
“It does feel like a dictatorship,<br />
where if you don’t comply then<br />
you’ll be publicly embarrassed<br />
like that and that’s not healthy for<br />
democracy.<br />
“What probably frustrates me<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
the most, is that when we raise<br />
valid arguments like that around<br />
financial discipline, that the first<br />
response of colleagues is to call<br />
me headline-grabbing.”<br />
Dalziel said MacDonald was not<br />
accused of “headline grabbing.”<br />
She clarified what she meant by<br />
her headline comments with <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Star</strong>, saying sometimes issues that<br />
generate headlines are focused on<br />
more than specific elements that<br />
need attention.<br />
Said Keown: “<strong>The</strong>re’s quite a<br />
strong undertone in our council<br />
at the moment with a level of political<br />
bullying and it’s rearing its<br />
head on quite a regular basis now<br />
and I think the public should be<br />
very, very concerned that that’s<br />
going on.<br />
“You can disagree, that’s fine.<br />
Especially, you can disagree with<br />
a strong debate, but when you<br />
just basically shut down people<br />
and laugh at the ideas that they<br />
put forward on behalf of their<br />
residents, we are seriously staring<br />
at a dictatorship.”<br />
Dalziel completely refuted<br />
MacDonald and Keown’s comments<br />
and told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> the<br />
amendment proposal was debated<br />
fairly.<br />
“That is ridiculous. I don’t<br />
have the power to dictate,” said<br />
Dalziel.<br />
“I don’t feel that there was any<br />
bullying.<br />
“I played back the debate. I<br />
intervened twice on Aaron’s<br />
speech. I didn’t shut him down<br />
and I didn’t laugh. On both occasions<br />
I intervened, the clock was<br />
stopped so it did not affect Cr Keown’s<br />
speaking time. His speech<br />
went for the full three minutes<br />
that each councillor is allocated.<br />
“It was debated. I didn’t stop<br />
anyone from debating the issue.”<br />
Turner said: “I’m not aware of<br />
any dictatorship or bullying, all I<br />
see is democracy at play.”<br />
Dalziel said she had not been<br />
informed by MacDonald or<br />
any other city councillors who<br />
supported the amendment that<br />
it was going to be raised at the<br />
meeting, and this was the reason<br />
for her frustration.<br />
Thursday <strong>April</strong> <strong>15</strong> <strong>2021</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong><br />
NEWS 7<br />
‘I don’t have the power to dictate’<br />
Mosque terrorist<br />
launches fresh<br />
legal challenge<br />
THE MOSQUE shooter has<br />
launched a legal challenge due to<br />
go before a High Court judge this<br />
morning.<br />
<strong>The</strong> gunman is serving a<br />
sentence of life imprisonment<br />
without parole for murdering<br />
51 people and attempting to<br />
murder 40 others at Al Noor<br />
Mosque and Linwood Islamic<br />
Centre on March <strong>15</strong>, 2019.<br />
He was also convicted under<br />
terrorism laws.<br />
He has sought a judicial<br />
review, which is due to be<br />
heard by Justice Geoffrey<br />
Venning in the High Court at<br />
Auckland.<br />
Court records show the hearing<br />
is in chambers, which means<br />
it will not be open to the public.<br />
Media are, however, permitted<br />
to attend. <strong>The</strong> records show the<br />
gunman intends to represent<br />
himself.<br />
A judicial review is where a<br />
judge is asked to review legal<br />
action or a decision. <strong>The</strong> judge<br />
looks at whether the way the<br />
decision was made was in<br />
accordance with the law – but<br />
the judge won’t usually decide<br />
whether the decision was the<br />
“right” decision.<br />
Judicial reviews are always<br />
heard in the High Court and<br />
about 180 judicial reviews are<br />
heard every year. – NZ Herald
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