Gordon McLauchlan - NZ author and historian - in his book The Passionless People - Revisited writes how he found the average person much less interested in banal abstractions, like "freedom and democracy," than they were in obtaining jobs that enabled them to house, feed and educate their families.
And yet in the RLC's struggle to include iwi at the decision-making table of local body politics the word "democracy' was bandied about with religious fervour by one section of the community and is still the catch-cry of many of the candidates for election.
'Big Business' doesn't care if you're brown, white, or black; Pakeha or Maori, it simply monsters everything in its path which is why my vote will be going to the councillors who invited Te Arawa to a seat at the local body table - strength through unity. Those councillors and tribal leaders were the true visionaries who are needed to lead the city through the difficulties that lie ahead.
These past three years, great progress has been made by the RLC at a philosophical level. There is direction and many citizens agree with it. Future planning is much easier when you know where you're going. If you don't know where you're going you'll end up some place else.
JOHN RUSH
Rotorua
John Rush
