I have had it confirmed by a Councillor whom I will not name because I do not have permission to do so – THAT:

Outside of the two Maori Wards now in place Hastings District Council has a (unknown to me) number of Iwi Advisers and these UNELECTED Iwi people are not only being remunerated but, also have voting rights.

This was apparently in place quite sometime before the Youth Councillors rort came to light.

To my knowledge if Stuff had not blown the whistle on the Youth Councillors ratepayers would not have known about either of these. Councilors opposed to even controversial decisions are required to respect majority decisions

I say to Mayor Hazelhurst you are unethical and your contempt for ratepayers means you are not now a fit and proper person to hold the position of Hastings Mayor.

You need to resign immediately.

I apologise to all Hastings Ratepayers for voting for Mayor Hazelhurst in previous elections and assure you I will never do so again.

Disclosure:

I do not know and have never met the Councilor who contacted me and confirmed the details re Maori Wards above when I raised the question in a telephone conversation we had earlier today. This call was the only direct contact we have ever had. The Councilor obtained my name and phone number because I copied all Hastings District Councilors in my first email to Ministers Brown and Seymour.