{"id":46674,"date":"2025-09-27T16:12:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/46674\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T16:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T16:12:15","slug":"far-north-election-candidate-told-to-ask-media-for-councils-policy-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/46674\/","title":{"rendered":"Far North election candidate told to ask media for council\u2019s policy view"},"content":{"rendered":"

After replacing his sign and warning FNDC not to interfere further<\/a>, Natusch received an email from the council\u2019s manager of compliance, Mike McMurtrie, stating that the new sign remained in breach of the policy because of its location in an 80km\/h zone. <\/p>\n

McMurtrie warned that the sign could be seized and a $92 return fee charged.<\/p>\n

Natusch requested the council explain its interpretation of the clearly worded policy, but instead of a response to that effect, compliance manager Mike McMurtrie told Natusch to ask the media for the council\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the media has now asked the exact same questions, we have responded to them with the position from FNDC,\u201d McMurtrie wrote. \u201cI will not be answering the same questions separately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natusch said the \u201cabsolute arrogance from the council\u201d astounded him. <\/p>\n

He wrote again to McMurtrie, saying: \u201cI find it troubling that the council is instructing a local body elections candidate<\/a> to make enquiries of the media as to the council\u2019s position on its interpretation of its Election Hoardings Policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny subjective interpretation of a Policy (and the council\u2019s interpretation is certainly subjective, given it deviates entirely from the actual wording of the policy) must take into account the right to freedom of expression in our Bill of Rights Act.<\/p>\n

\"AA dispute has erupted over Far North District Council’s claim this and other election hoardings in the 80km\/h part of Kerikeri Heritage Bypass Rd breach a relevant policy.<\/p>\n

Pursuant to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, Natusch asked to be provided with copies of internal council correspondence regarding the CE\u2019s interpretation of the policy insisting the signage rule applied to all roads with a 70km\/h or more speed limit, rather than only those forming part of the state highway corridor; and instructions by the CE to council staff to police the Policy in that way. <\/p>\n

The Northern Advocate asked FNDC why it refused to respond directly to Natusch\u2019s formal inquiry and whether it considered it appropriate to refer him to the media for its answer. <\/p>\n

FNDC Group manager of strategic relationships Jacine Warmington said: \u201cCouncils are required to administer local elections in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001, including appointing an independent Electoral Officer to oversee the process of an election. <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring an election, requests for information from candidates are dealt with formally under official information legislation \u2013 all candidates are welcome to submit requests to the council via elections@fndc.govt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny complaint about the administration of the election should be submitted to the council\u2019s Independent Electoral Officer in the first instance at info@electionservices.co.nz. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe council will not be commenting on the specific circumstances applying to any complaint but is happy to process requests or complaints from candidates through the appropriate channels noted above.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years\u2019 experience in journalism, most of which she spent reporting on the courts in Gisborne and the East Coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After replacing his sign and warning FNDC not to interfere further, Natusch received an email from the council\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[40923,1558,19956,6636,16579,5205,7558,7557,5903,40924,528,2082,5420,16411,20053,1362,1073,40925,111,43,139,529,69,1523,7254,8998,40927,40926,19554,61,6859,664,9880],"class_list":["post-46674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-ask","tag-been","tag-candidate","tag-challenge","tag-contact","tag-council","tag-councils","tag-district","tag-election","tag-electoral","tag-far","tag-for","tag-hes","tag-jonathan","tag-lawyer","tag-made","tag-media","tag-natuschs","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-policy","tag-position","tag-query","tag-signage","tag-taken","tag-to","tag-told","tag-turn","tag-view"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}