Local Business Owner & Advisor, Dene Green, To Stand For Franklin Ward
ACT Local has selected Maraetai resident and small business owner Dene Green as its candidate for the Franklin Ward in this year's Auckland Council election. Dene will also stand for the Wairoa Subdivision of the Franklin Local Board.
Dene has over 30 years of experience in logistics, business ownership, and mentoring. He runs a service supporting small businesses and local development and holds an EMBA and a PostDoctorate in Global Business from the University of Oxford.
He has championed renewable energy projects such as offshore wind power, supported aquaculture ventures, and pushed for Free Trade Zones in New Zealand, including the proposed Marsden Point in Northland. He also advised the campaign to position Auckland as a strategic 'Southern Link' transport hub between China and South America.
Now Dene is focused on Franklin. As a proud Franklin local of Ngāti Hine descent, he understands what matters to families and businesses here.
For too long Franklin has been treated as Auckland's forgotten rural fringe. From Whitford and Beachlands to Pukekohe and Waiuku, fastgrowing communities have seen clogged roads, stalled infrastructure, and rising rates with little to show for it.
Auckland Council keeps adding climate levies and hiking business rates instead of delivering practical solutions. Franklin deserves better, investment that matches our growth, infrastructure that keeps up, and leadership that puts local priorities first.
'Franklin deserves better than being treated like a rural afterthought,' Dene says.
'Our communities need practical, people-first representation. I'll focus on fixing roads, improving local facilities, and making housing easier, not endless bureaucracy and red tape.
'Council should make life easier, not harder. Ratepayers deserve value for money and a council that works for them.' – Dene Green
Earlier this year, ACT New Zealand announced it would be standing Common Sense Candidates for local government for the first time — after hearing from New Zealanders across the country who are sick of rising rates, ballooning budgets, and councils that ignore the basics while chasing ideological vanity projects.
When you vote ACT Local, you know what you're getting:
Fixing the basics
Ending the war on cars
Cutting the waste
Stopping race-based politics
Restoring accountability
Lower rates
ACT Local Government spokesperson Cameron Luxton says:
' ACT Local candidates are community-minded Kiwis who've had enough of wasteful councils treating ratepayers like ATMs. It's time to take control on behalf of ratepayers — to restore accountability and deliver real value for money. ACT Local is about getting the basics right: maintaining roads, keeping streets clean, and respecting the people who pay the bills. Our candidates won't divide people by race or get distracted by climate vanity projects. They're here to serve, not lecture.' – Cameron Luxton
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
3 hours ago
- NZ Herald
PayPal withholds $8k in funds raised for Gaza by NZ donors
Thousands of dollars donated for Gaza families are being withheld by PayPal without explanation. Photo / Getty Images Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Thousands of dollars donated for Gaza families are being withheld by PayPal without explanation. Photo / Getty Images By Midday Report of RNZ Thousands of dollars donated by New Zealanders for families in Gaza is being withheld by PayPal with no reason given. A New Zealand writer who goes by the name of Emily Writes, set up the fund 'Aotearoa to Gaza Mutual Aid' through Ko-Fi – a free crowdfunding platform that sends funds to PayPal. In just 24 hours, the account had received over $8000 from about 900 individual donations. Writes would then send the money on to Palestinians in need, but her request to withdraw money was denied and her account deactivated.
Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
PayPal withholds thousands from Kiwis to Palestinians
Photo: Getty Thousands of dollars donated by New Zealanders for families in Gaza is being withheld by PayPal, and no reason has been given. A New Zealand writer who goes by the name of Emily Writes set up the fund 'Aotearoa to Gaza Mutual Aid' through Ko-Fi - a free crowdfunding platform that send funds to PayPal. In just 24 hours, the account had received more than $8000 from about 900 individual donations. Writes would then send the money on to Palestinians in need, but her request to withdraw money was denied and her account deactivated. She told Midday Report PayPal would not tell her why the account was closed, and said the money would be held for 180 days. "It was just frozen with no explanation and no ability to do anything about that. The money is just being held there," she said. Writes said she has spent days going back and forth with PayPal trying to get answers, but the company isn't being transparent. She believes the reason is political as she has heard from others who have also had funds for Gaza frozen. "The minute they said that it was going to be for Palestinians it was shut down," she said. Midday Report has contacted PayPal for comment but has not received a response.
NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Exclusive: More explicit rumours about Tory Whanau – this time from Auckland councillor Maurice Williamson
Whanau, who has no objection to the Herald publishing the video as an example of the abuse she faces, said Williamson's comments 'make me feel sick'. 'It seems to be these older, weird creepy men who speak about me but also others like that. This sexualisation of women in leadership roles is purely intended to dehumanise and reduce us in terms of character.' Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson spread a sexually explicit rumour about the Wellington Mayor during an Auckland Council committee meeting in 2023. Photo / Brett Phibbs The revelation comes after the Herald obtained an email written by Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung in which he passed on gossip from a neighbour about Whanau having 'tempestuous' drug-fuelled sex on New Year's Eve 2022 and having 'soft pendulous breasts'. This new rumour, like the New Year's Eve gossip, was not true, said Whanau, and was equally able to be proven false. She said the rumours were part of highly-sexualised dialogue aimed at her – and other female politicians – to demean them and undermine their roles. Williamson's comment was captured on the official Auckland Council recording but never made public. The Herald has obtained the key section, in which Williamson makes reference to Whanau allegedly performing a sex act. He has been approached for comment but is yet to respond. The video did not capture the beginning of Williamson's comments because of meeting business, and the end of his comments were indistinct because fellow councillors were trying to shout the former National MP down. As Williamson continued to speak, somebody at the meeting shouted: 'Maurice, Maurice, you better belt up mate'. Independent Māori Statutory Board deputy chairman Tau Henare, who sat in Cabinet as a minister alongside Williamson in the late 90s, can be heard immediately calling a point of order. 'I actually think you should sanction that outburst. We don't have to sit here and listen to [video cuts off].' Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says some people try to sexualise and dehumanise women in leadership roles. Photo / Mark Mitchell Williamson's comments appear to stem from a rumour that ran rampant in late 2023 after Whanau admitted to drinking too much on November 18 at Wellington's Havana Bar. She later said she had a drinking problem for which she would seek help. A rumour emerged on social media claiming a recording existed of Whanau carrying out a lewd act while at the bar. Whanau always maintained the rumour was false, yet it persisted despite 10 witnesses and a bar manager also saying it was false. Whanau said oppressive sexualised commentary about women leaders has increased in recent years. She said former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern, Green MP Tamatha Paul, former Labour Cabinet minister Kiritapu Allan, former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman and Auckland councillor Julie Fairey and others have been targeted. Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says women leaders, such as former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern (centre) and former minister Kiritapu Allan (right), have had to deal with increased sexualised commentary in recent years. Photo / Peter de Graaf 'I'm a woman in leadership, I'm progressive. I want the best for my community and I have the policies to deliver that. So what do these weird men do? They assassinate your character instead.' Whanau said for two years she has had to put up with people calling her 'c***sucker' and saying 'she's probably in the toilets giving another blow job'. Tau Henare called out Maurice Williamson's lewd comments immediately. Photo / NZME She said Williamson phoned her at the time to apologise, but it seemed 'disingenuous'. She claims he talked over her and didn't tell her who he had gossiped with. 'He didn't actually let me speak,' she said. Whanau said she was seeking legal advice on potential action against 'anyone who has helped push any of those false rumours about me' – but wanted a long-term solution. She said part of the problem was social media sites reducing content moderation and community guidelines. 'We need to look at social media reform regulation, we need to look at the Harmful Digital Communications Act – is it strong enough? We need to look at hate speech legislation.' Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward councillor Julie Fairey was at the meeting in 2023. When Williamson started speaking, she said: 'I started making a lot of noise trying to drown it out so it's not on the recording because I knew we would then be publishing something untrue and vile and possibly defamatory.' Fairey said the comments made her feel sick. 'A lot of us were in shock. It was completely unacceptable.' She said afterwards she needed to walk off the adrenaline. When Auckland Council was asked for the full video it declined, saying the section in which Williamson's comments were made 'contained inappropriate and offensive content and did not relate to the business of the meeting'. It withheld that section of the video to protect privacy and maintain 'effective conduct of public affairs' by protecting officials and others from 'improper pressure or harassment'. The council said Williamson 'made the comment to someone outside the meeting' and did not realise he wasn't on mute. After he made the comment, a council staff member placed his connection on mute. Councillor Richard Hills, chairman of the meeting, ruled Williamson withdraw his remarks and apologise and asked councillors to stop discussing the matter. He also asked the council chief executive to review the incident. A council spokeswoman said they found 'no further action was appropriate because a direct apology, verbal and in private, was given soon after the incident and Mayor Whanau, through her office, had advised that she did not seek any further action be taken'. The spokeswoman said training was now provided for online meetings. David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
