Only elected councillors will be able to vote on council committees, in a move that strengthens democratic accountability, Local Government Minister Simon Watts announced today.
“Councillors are directly accountable to voters for their decisions. We are amending the Local Government Act 2002 so only elected members hold voting rights at council committee meetings,” Mr Watts says.
“Councils and the public nationwide have raised concerns about individuals holding voting rights on council committees, undermining decision-making and diluting the influence of democratically elected members.
“We’ve seen examples in the Far North, in Tauranga and in Hastings where individuals, such as iwi representatives and young people aged under 18, have been appointed to council committees and given voting rights without being elected by the community.
“That’s not democratic, so we’re fixing it.
An excellent move by the Government. Some may argue that unelected members on committees is okay, as decisions have to be ratified by the full Council. But that ignores the reality that getting the full Council to overturn a decision by a committee can take a huge amount of work and effort, and inertia often wins.
“While it is useful and appropriate that councils are able to make appointments that bolster the skills, attributes and knowledge of elected members, those individuals are not elected by ratepayers and therefore have no democratic accountability.
“Councils can still appoint non-elected members to offer professional advice and represent communities but those appointments will not come with voting rights or count towards a quorum.”
So you can still have an external accountant or lawyer on Audit & Risk. The benefit from them is their advice and knowledge, not their vote.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
6 comments:
About time they did something. Good news indeed.
What about all the decisions that the unelected "members" have pushed through in recent years ?
Rollback and re-visit every one of them.
Labour and its allies are unhappy because, as one associate told me, democracy doesn't work for Maori. It is about co governance not one person one vote which is anti minority. Therefore democracy is also anti every party that is not in a government all around the world. labour sees Maori (radicals) as a useful ally to establish what would be in effect a permanent Labour led vaguely Left govt. Easily done. Impose the desired version of the treaty in a constitution that cannot be changed and require all those standing for any party to swear allegiance to it or you cannot stand. Eastern bloc, Islamic state style. Oh and a special upper panel or whatever of Maori elites to vet all laws. The average voter couldn't care less as long they have their booze, rugby, cricket, bonks and porn and handouts.
No surprise that the proposed law change has been taken by Maori and some others as an attack on Maori rights.
BS
My understanding of the proposal is that it applies to anybody, not Maori specifically.
As per the comment in another thread, this is big government stepping in and overriding local electorate decisions. The opposite of democracy. One vote one person, unless it is council and then some bureaucrat with no idea down in fancy Wellington decides to do whatever the heck he wants? Not in my New Zealand.
Where does this leave the likes of the Tupuna Maunga Authority, and the body which is to direct developments in the Waitakere Heritage Area?
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