Consultation is Broken. Here’s What I’ve Learned Trying to Fix It.

I didn’t plan to be in politics and I didn’t plan to be in courtrooms either.

Ten years ago, I raised concerns that Tauranga City Council was misleading the public about the future of the Marine Precinct. Not in a dramatic way — there was no big council chamber speech. Just conversations. Questions. Emails. Trying to understand why the consultation felt more like theatre than genuine dialogue.
That’s how this all started.

Back then, I believed that if you just got involved, followed the process, showed up at meetings, gave good-faith feedback, you could help shape better outcomes. But after over three years of sitting in those meetings, it became clear: nothing was changing. Decisions were already made. We were being walked through the motions — a consultation box being ticked, while plans moved forward behind closed doors.
In 2019, I’d had enough.

I gave my first public speech at the Tauranga mayoral debate https://www.facebook.com/ErikaHarveyNZ/videos/2408672642724639 — not because I was a polished politician, but because I couldn’t stay quiet anymore. I saw how broken the system was. How families, business owners, and everyday people were being shut out of the decisions that shaped their lives. And I thought maybe, just maybe, I could help fix that.

So I ran in the 2019 election. Then was asked to stand in the central body elections. Because the more I learned — especially about the state of our education system and what families of children with additional learning needs were facing, the more urgent it felt to try and change things from the inside.
And yet… here we are.

Years later. Still talking about the Marine Precinct. Still asking why public consultation continues to fail. Still fighting a fight that should have been resolved a decade ago, but this time, in court.

And who pays for that? We all do.
This entire legal battle could have been avoided. But instead, we’re watching public funds being spent to defend a deal that never should’ve been done in the first place. And the cause of this issue? It hasn’t changed.

Because what I’ve learned, and what most people already suspect, is:
Consultation is broken.
It’s not designed to empower people. It’s designed to protect decisions that are already underway. The problem isn’t just the decisions — it’s the process. One side knows all the options, the risks, the long-term vision. The other side — the public — is only ever given a snapshot of what’s already been decided.
And when you question that? When you try to slow things down and shine a light? You’re the problem. You’re too loud. Too emotional. Too “political.”
But what’s truly political… is pretending consultation is real while deliberately keeping people in the dark.

I’m not writing this as someone who aspires to be a politician. I don't. I never really wanted to be. I’m standing here as a mum. As a community member who saw how hard people were working to build a better future, and how easily those efforts were ignored.

I’ve spent years trying to fix this. And I’ll keep going, not as a politician, but on the other side, within my community. Because it shouldn’t take a decade, a campaign, and a court case just to ask:
Why aren’t people being told the truth?
And if we want to stop ending up in the same place — over and over again — we have to stop pretending that ticking boxes is enough.

I hope one day the transcript from the interim injunction hearing is released. Because that day, something became painfully clear: everyone in that room learned how broken this process really is.

We all deserve better than box-ticking and silence.
We deserve decisions made with us — not around us.
It’s time we stop normalising broken processes.
And stop treating the people who speak up as if they’re the problem.
It’s not radical to ask for answers. It’s responsible.
And it’s long past time we started demanding them.

If you’ve ever felt shut out, second-guessed, or like your voice didn’t count — you’re not alone. And you’re not the problem.
The system is.
I really hope we can fix it, genuinely together one day.