Hamilton is at a crossroads. We can continue down the well-worn path of rising debt, reactive governance, and offshore profit drain—or we can choose a new way forward, powered by our own community.

Our city is burdened with a staggering $1.3 billion in public debt, a figure that has steadily ballooned through years of infrastructure overreach, global shocks, and questionable financial management. That debt costs us dearly every year in interest—between $65 million and $91 million, depending on the prevailing rates—and it’s funded out of our rates. The average Hamilton household is already paying over $1,000 per year just to service debt interest alone.

I’m standing as an Independent candidate for Hamilton City Council – Hamilton West because I believe we can solve this. Not incrementally. Not symbolically. Completely. I have a clear, realistic, and community-driven strategy to eliminate Hamilton’s debt within 13 years—while keeping rates fair, improving services, and strengthening our local economy.
🏦 Step One: Build a Hamilton-Owned Community Bank

Right now, Hamilton’s residents are pouring over $500 million per year into the profit columns of offshore-owned banks. With 60% of our 64,000 rateable properties carrying mortgages, and an average interest bill of $35,800 per home, it’s easy to see the scale of the financial outflow.

This isn’t just abstract economics. It’s real money leaving our community—money that could be funding roads, housing, libraries, youth services, or debt relief. Instead, it vanishes into the offshore earnings of Australian banking conglomerates.

Let’s change that.

By creating a locally owned public bank, jointly capitalised by Hamilton City Council, local iwi, and Hamilton residents, we can channel that interest back into our own city. The Hamilton Bank would:

Offer mortgages to local residents and businesses

Invest in community housing and infrastructure

Operate under professional, independent management

Dedicate profits to paying off Council debt and lowering rates

Just capturing 25% of Hamilton’s mortgage market—around a $9 billion loan book—at standard margins would generate over $180 million in annual profit. With prudent reserves, that still leaves $100 million or more annually to apply directly to our city’s debt.

At that pace, Hamilton could retire the entire $1.3 billion debt in just over a decade.
📉 Step Two: Unlock Immediate Rate Relief Through User-Pays Mechanisms

While the long-term vision focuses on eliminating debt and reclaiming mortgage profits, immediate rate relief is also possible through simple user-pays adjustments that protect residents.

Take libraries as an example. Hamilton’s libraries are an essential service, and they should remain free for residents and ratepayers. But non-resident visitors—who benefit from our services without contributing to our rates base—could be asked to contribute a modest library card fee.

The math is straightforward:

A $40 non-resident library card fee with 20,000 memberships raises $800,000 annually

That reduces the average Hamilton household’s rates by $12.50

Scaled across multiple services and larger non-resident user bases, we could generate millions annually in revenue

Every $3.2 million raised lowers average household rates by $50

It’s not about punishing outsiders—it’s about ensuring Hamilton residents are no longer subsidising non-residents.
🏙️ Step Three: Reclaim Local Investment Through a New Economic Model

Our city’s fiscal policy for the past 20 years has too often focused on borrowing to fund grand projects, with the assumption that growth will pay for growth.

But the numbers tell a different story.
Year Closing Debt Estimate Notable Events
2003 ~$180M Pre-stadium, stable era
2010 ~$510M Post-stadium burden
2024 ~$1.21B Rising inflation, frozen rates
2025 ~$1.22B (est) Election year – no change

From the V8s to the stadium to the Peacocke development, Hamilton has seen ambitious vision combined with uncontrolled borrowing. Each “Chief” of the city has passed on a greater burden to the next. And now, ratepayers are the ones holding the bill.

Enough is enough. We need to stop relying on borrowed money and start using Hamilton’s own financial power—its people, its savings, its spending—to build resilience.
🌏 Why a Local Bank? And Why Now?

Community banking isn’t a fringe idea—it’s a proven model across the world. Germany’s public Sparkassen banks, the U.S.’s community credit unions, and even some Australian regional mutuals have demonstrated that banks can serve communities, not just shareholders.

Hamilton has the scale, stability, and civic leadership to do this successfully. A Hamilton Bank would:

Keep profits local

Support local businesses and homeowners

Provide competitive mortgage options

Partner with iwi to reflect local priorities and co-governance

Fund debt repayment and reduce rates pressure

Yes, there are challenges: Reserve Bank licensing, capital adequacy requirements, political resistance, and institutional inertia. But the status quo is even riskier—continued debt escalation, rising rates, and local money flowing offshore with no return.

This is a strategic, intergenerational investment. And it will pay off.
💬 Addressing the Skeptics

Some will say this plan is too ambitious. Others will argue that city councils shouldn’t be in the banking business.

Here’s what I say in response:

We are already in the borrowing business. We’re borrowing over a billion dollars, paying hundreds of millions in interest, and tying the hands of future generations. That’s riskier than owning a small, professionally run bank.

The profits are real. A 2% margin on even a small share of Hamilton’s mortgage market creates meaningful annual surpluses.

We need local solutions. The economic challenges we face—housing, affordability, infrastructure funding—won’t be solved by Wellington, and certainly not by Australian banks. We must act locally.

Just imagine: Instead of our children inheriting a city burdened by debt and rising rates, they inherit one that is debt-free, vibrant, and economically independent.
👨‍👩‍👧 Representing All Hamiltonians

I’m standing not for a party, but for people: homeowners, renters, families, seniors, students, and small businesses. Our shared interest is a city that works—safer streets, fairer rates, and a better future for all.

Whether you live in Hamilton East or West, Flagstaff or Glenview, your rates should be fair. Your infrastructure should be reliable. And your city council should be making smart, future-facing financial decisions.

My plan isn’t just a reaction to a broken system. It’s a blueprint for a new one. One that values:

Community ownership over corporate extraction

Debt freedom over intergenerational burden

Transparent governance over vague strategies

Empowered citizens over disengaged ratepayers

🔎 Transparency, Tracking, and Tangible Results

As part of this plan, I commit to publishing an annual debt-repayment tracker showing progress towards full repayment. Hamiltonians deserve to see how every dollar saved is used. Every milestone should be celebrated—not hidden in a budget appendix.

By 2028, we can realistically cut the city’s debt by $400 million with combined savings, new revenues, and bank contributions. That alone would reduce annual interest obligations by over $25 million, directly relieving ratepayer pressure.
🔚 Conclusion: A Debt-Free Hamilton Is Within Reach

It’s time to stop thinking small.

Let’s stop nibbling around the edges of a financial problem that has crippled our city’s budget for decades. Let’s stop relying on the goodwill of governments or the generosity of external lenders. Let’s build our own tools, take control of our own destiny, and start investing in ourselves.

Hamilton’s money should stay in Hamilton.

Let’s turn every dollar of interest we currently pay to foreign banks into a school upgrade, a pothole repair, a park revitalisation, or a lower rates bill.

The solution is not austerity. It’s intelligent investment, local ownership, and civic courage.
I Invite You to Vote for a Better Future

If elected, I will push for:

The establishment of a Hamilton Community Bank

Immediate user-pays adjustments for non-resident service access

Transparent tracking of debt reduction progress

Stronger partnerships with iwi and community stakeholders

Fiscal policy that prioritises Hamiltonians—not just bondholders

Let’s do what other cities are afraid to try. Let’s build forward—with safer streets, fairer rates, and a Hamilton debt-free by 2038.

Your vote for me, Roderick John Young, is a vote to make Hamilton a national leader in community-powered finance and local sovereignty.

Together, we can reclaim Hamilton’s future.

Roderick J. Young, BSc, LLB
Independent Candidate – Hamilton West
Contact: roderickjy@gmail.com