McKelvie: Possible Minister of Bale-outs



Ian McKelvie Nat's sleep walker in Rangitikei does behind doors deal. 



The Mayor of Manawatu District [Ian McKelvie, pictured] has done a secret backroom deal with the cash strapped and financially miss-managed Manfield Park Trust. He plans to buy back land gifted to the MPT by the good people of Rangitikei. The impression abroad is that he wants this embarrassing episode [stuff-up] tucked away before he ‘sleep walks’ his way into Parliament in the fading footprints of the out going MP Simon Power now head of private banking for Australian owned Westpac, our government’s own banker.

Beat that for jobs for the boys…Just how much of your rate payers money he is willing to spend to pull the big spending MPT is as yet unknown but there is a sense of urgency rumbling in Fielding as McKelvie prepares to enter into his hundred and fifty thousand plus job gifted to him by the National Party in Rangitikei. I’ve no doubt that he will be laughing all the way to the bank as will Simon Power if you will excuse the pun.

According to the Manawatu Standard, McKelvie said “that the council had decided to negotiate with the MPT”…yeah, yeah. Just like their negotiations over selling off large hunks of the Manawatu District council to Palmerston North to ease his self-imposed massive debt. It’s standard Nat’s type policy; sell off other people’s assets to pay for your own foolishness of backing a poorly organised and controlled Trust board.

We can only hope that if the Nats are elected that they sit Mr. McKelvie on the back benches well away from any thing financial. Maybe they could make him Minister of bale-outs after the MPT episode he is well practiced for the staring role. Based on his record maybe the Nat’s could make him Minister of Local Government asset sales, this may allow the Nats to double his salary…while laughing behind his back…who knows. If you lived in the Rangitikei electorate would you want this person representing you?