The People’s Lobby. Independent. Member-powered. Same questions, whoever is in power. Follow the decision. Check the source.
Joined November 2020
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Lobby for Good retweeted
"Just show me where I've got it wrong, and I will rectify it."
That was Tauranga lawyer Kirsten Murfitt's offer after a barrister phoned demanding she take down an open letter she had published for a client. She says everything in it came from public records, and he couldn't point to any defamation.
The reply, she says, was a letter: remove it within three days, apologise publicly, and pay $100,000 within seven. She says the defamation claim went nowhere. A Law Society complaint followed.
🎥 Full episode: youtu.be/cq7eJvICCPg
Promoted by Free Speech Union, PO Box 91811, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142
What’s the point of finding something wrong if nobody makes sure it gets fixed?
In 2024/25, the Auditor-General assessed 1,438 audit recommendations across 131 large public organisations.
Only 609 had been implemented by year-end.
That left 829 not yet implemented at that reporting point.
Some may have been in progress. Some may have required significant time or resources.
But what we want to know is:
Who follows up?
Who checks whether the promised improvements actually happen?
And what happens when the same problems keep appearing in audit reports, year after year?
Identifying a problem is not the same as fixing and announcing an improvement is not the same as delivering one.
We’re following the decisions, the recommendations and what actually changes.
Accountability shouldn’t end when the report is published.
Follow Decision Watch as we examine what happens next.
Source: Office of the Auditor-General, Annual Report 2024/25.
#LobbyForGood #DecisionWatch #AccountabilityGap #NewZealand
RT @MurfittTauranga: A great interview by a brave US lawyer exposing the system.
In New Zealand the actual Law Society is being weaponize…
This quoted post is unavailable.
Is congestion charging dead in Tauranga? You could be forgiven for thinking so.
The City Future Committee was reportedly 6/4 against spending $300k over three years to investigate time-of-use charging.
Sounds final. Except the paper trail is a little more interesting.
So the current record is:
No approved Tauranga congestion charge.
Earlier road-pricing work exists.
A legal pathway exists.
Further investigation funding has reportedly just been voted down.
That is a much more interesting story than “it’s coming” or “it’s dead.”
I stood for election three times because I genuinely believed getting into politics was how you changed things.
Ten years of advocacy, three election campaigns and several years digging through council decisions later, I'm starting to see things rather differently.
I've learned how valuable political relationships can be, how much elected representatives rely on the advice they're given, and something I really wish I'd understood earlier.
An independent investigation can clear everything it was asked to examine, while leaving the very questions people wanted answered outside its scope.
That last discovery has particularly changed how I look at accountability.
I've written about what took me into politics, what I learned along the way, and why I've come to believe we need stronger independent scrutiny outside council chambers and Parliament.
It's also the story behind why I started Lobby For Good
I Thought Getting Into Politics Was How You Changed Things. I'm Not So Sure Anymore.
Read the full story: lobbyforgood.substack.com/p/…
Lobby for Good retweeted
A barrister demanded I pay $100,000 within seven days, remove an open letter within three, and apologise publicly — all after I published the open letter on behalf of my client.
When the barrister first contacted me, my response was simple: “Just show me where I’ve got it wrong, and I will rectify it.”
Everything in the letter came from public records. He couldn’t point to a single defamatory statement.
The defamation claim went nowhere. A Law Society complaint followed.
Full episode: youtu.be/cq7eJvICCPg
"Just show me where I've got it wrong, and I will rectify it."
That was Tauranga lawyer Kirsten Murfitt's offer after a barrister phoned demanding she take down an open letter she had published for a client. She says everything in it came from public records, and he couldn't point to any defamation.
The reply, she says, was a letter: remove it within three days, apologise publicly, and pay $100,000 within seven. She says the defamation claim went nowhere. A Law Society complaint followed.
🎥 Full episode: youtu.be/cq7eJvICCPg
Promoted by Free Speech Union, PO Box 91811, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142
Lobby for Good retweeted
I am finally speaking up about the hell I have been put through for publishing an open letter on behalf of my client, Lobby For Good, based on public records and information in the public domain. Speaking up comes with costs—$30,000 in this case and a lot of stress. Regardless, I will not stop looking at the Council's deals as there is too much at stake for our community and future generations.
There is a pattern of selling ratepayers property at undervalue and on favourable terms for the vendor and purchasing property at over value on favourable terms for the purchaser. What about us ratepayers - our rates have skyrocketed.
If you want to help fight for transparencyand accountability, pease sign the petition for the Auditor General to investigate the Council's property transactions over $2 million. The link is in the comments below. You don't need to be in Tauranga to sign.
Ps I know I look very tired in this video. There is a lot going on at home 🥲
"It was a big black rectangle."
Tauranga lawyer Kirsten Murfitt asked Tauranga City Council to see a document for her client. At the first meeting, she says, council told her it didn't have the information. At the second, there were to be no notes and no recordings. The document then went up on a screen, fully redacted.
The Law Society later told her she should have used the proper process. Her answer, in the full episode with Stephen Franks: the process isn't working.
🎥 Full episode: youtu.be/cq7eJvICCPg
Promoted by Free Speech Union, PO Box 91811, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142
Whoever wins NZ’s election, government doesn’t start again at zero.
Some decisions begin years before they make headlines.
I spent years trying to understand one.
Everyday people shouldn’t have to.
That’s why I built Lobby for Good.
The decisions don’t start at zero.
We’re building Lobby for Good to follow public decisions backwards through the evidence.
Independent work takes time and support.
We’re looking for our first 1,000 members who believe this should exist.
Learn more here:
lfgportal.lobbyforgood.nz
Before we call each other conspiracy theorists or government shills, could we check the receipts?
That’s the idea behind our first Decision Watch. 👇
lobbyforgood.substack.com/p/…
THEY DON’T HAVE TO WIN THE ARGUMENT IF THEY CAN MAKE YOU TOO TIRED, TOO SCARED OR TOO BROKE TO KEEP ASKING.
Lobby for Good retweeted
This petition calls on Parliament to investigate Tauranga City Council’s property transactions over $2 million and assess whether they meet the transparency and democratic standards required under the Local Government Act 2002.
Public funds deserve public accountability.
Tauranga City Council has been selling and buying property behind closed doors, withholding sale prices and key terms from ratepayers. With debt high and rates rising, every sale of public land should go to open tender — not off market deals that favour private interests.
We’re asking for:
• An independent investigation by the Auditor General or a select committee
• Full transparency on valuations, decision making, and conflicts of interest
• Clear recommendations to protect ratepayer value
• Restoration of public trust in local government
👉 Sign the Parliamentary Petition and help set a higher standard for governance in Tauranga. Link in the comments below.
THE DEAL IS SIGNED.
BUT WHAT DID PEOPLE ACTUALLY GET?
A Regional Deal sounds like something concrete has been agreed. But when you follow the documents, a lot of the important questions are still open.
What changes for people living there now? What is actually funded? And what could eventually fall back on ratepayers?
We followed the paper trail.
Read our latest article: The Regional Deal has been signed. But what did people actually get? lobbyforgood.substack.com/p/…
Before Tauranga’s formal Airport consultation:
TCC proposes options analysis, due diligence, a commercial term sheet, land/asset transfer principles, tax advice, an IRD ruling + possible “soft engagement”.
Formal consultation comes through the 2027–37 LTP.
Council says no final decision until after consultation.
Source: 22 Sept agenda, Item 11.5.
We don’t have an opinion on whether the Airport is ultimately sold or not. That’s for the community to decide.
We’re interested in the process. After looking closely at what happened with the Marine Precinct, we’re seeing some similar procedural features emerging around another major public asset. That doesn’t mean the outcome will be the same.
We’re bringing the documents into the open early so the community can follow what happens before formal consultation - not after the important decisions and structures have already begun taking shape.