Rising rates and increased council spending proved a hot topic at a public meeting in Whakatāne – but various unproven conspiracy theories also slipped into the debate.

Action group Challenging Councils founder Mark Quinn spoke to about 50 people at a meeting held at the Knox Presbyterian Church on Tuesday last week.

It was the last Bay of Plenty stop in Quinn’s nationwide speaking tour.

Some ratepayers expressed concerns over their ability to pay increased rates, with one man with a family of young children stating that even on a salary of $100,000, coping with rates rises was difficult.

A Rotomā woman said Whakatāne district rates rises compared favourably to those in her area, where hikes in sewerage charges had led to increases of 100%.

While most attendees were drawn to the meeting by concerns about increasing rates and council borrowing, the gathering was also used to air disinformation about councils.

Quinn spoke at length about extreme borrowing by councils around the country, but also made allegations about council accounting practices.

Whakatāne Mayor Victor Luca and district councillor Andrew Iles, who have both been strong advocates for reducing council spending, fronted up to the meeting and attempted to address some of the concerns of those at the meeting.

Luca said while debate about how council spent ratepayers’ money was valid, he defended the council against any accusations of fraudulent practices.

During his four or five years in council, Luca said he had seen no evidence of Quinn’s claims.

“I was surprised at how transparent [council] actually is.”

Whakatāne Mayor Victor Luca.

Luca argued that all the council’s long-term and annual plans and annual reports underwent a thorough independent auditing process and did not require further “forensic” auditing.

“All of this is public. I mean, our council meetings are broadcast in real time. If you go on the council’s website, you will find all of this information.”

Iles, who has been a councillor for 16 years, agreed.

“We are very studious over our expenditure. It comes down to levels of service. You mentioned rubbish on the roads, for example. We could have that rubbish picked up but it does come at a cost.

“We have to be prudent in what we’re doing. We are, but we could do with less debt, for sure.”

Some attendees were eager to conflate genuine issues with commonly repeated conspiracy theories, such as disinformation about the links between the United Nations and councils.