NZCPR Newsletter: Voters Deliver Wake-Up Call

Community disillusionment over councils going off the rails was on full display last weekend as voters reshaped local government in the 2025 elections.

Across the country, high-spending councillors were booted out and replaced by those promising more responsible financial management, greater community engagement, and increased accountability.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Will cutting councils fix our abysmal voter turnout?

Listen, I am more and more convinced that we need to cut the number of councils we have across the country. I mean, that voter turnout that we've seen at the weekend was abysmal.

Last count I've seen is that nationally, only 38 percent of us voted. It's worse in Auckland, where only around 29 percent - so not even 1 in 3 of us - voted.

Ryan Bridge: The silence was deafening in our local elections

If the Coalition was looking for an endorsement of its rates cap idea, it got one over the weekend.

Of the 18 councils that hit ratepayers with double-digit hikes this year, 13 elected new mayors.

Judy Gill: Maori Ward Referendums

Just watch as rates rise, property values fall, and ideology moves into the school zone

Congratulations, residents of the new Maori Ward Councils — just watch as rates climb, property values fall, and a full cultural bureaucracy moves in. You’ll see more Te Reo road signs, karakia before every meeting, and a few taniwha to appease before any construction begins. And if you’ve got school-age children, check your zoning now — these areas will surely become magnets for ideological schooling and activist curriculum presented under the banner of “inclusion.”

Steven Gaskell: Democracy Strikes Back - 66% of New Zealanders Say “No” to Māori Wards

Well, isn’t this a delightful surprise? After years of the Left lecturing, brow-beating, and rewriting history, ordinary New Zealanders have finally said what most of us have been thinking all along: 66 percent of councils have voted “No” to these undemocratic, race-based Māori wards. The people have spoken and the social engineers are sulking.

Ryan Bridge: Are local elections a flop?

At what point do you say this local government election's a failure, a flop, not worth the paper it's written on?

I think we're fast approaching that point now.

Even in Auckland. Our biggest City. Super-City. With the most responsibility. The biggest burden to shoulder after amalgamation.

David Hill: Local Government spending out of control

With the local body elections due in October this year we are once again seeing aspirational individuals coming forward to throw in their names for election of local councillors and Mayor.

All have a list of important issues that they are enthusiastic and compassionate about that they truly believe are the key issues facing ratepayers and individuals. However particularly over the last 10 to 20 years in New Zealand we have had councils that have been more and more influenced by left wing ideology and as Prime Minister Luxon alluded to “nice to have” projects rather than sticking to the basics of roading, water, rubbish collection and other core services.

NZCPR Newsletter: A Critical Decision

Forty-two councils are set to hold pivotal referenda on the future of local body Maori seats in October, yet few New Zealanders appear to grasp just how high the stakes actually are.

Proponents of Maori sovereignty understand the gravity: losing these seats would deal a crushing blow to their push for control over local councils.

More critically, it could jeopardise their race-based parliamentary seats and their He Puapua plan to dominate “Aotearoa” by 2040.

NZCPR Newsletter: The State of Local Government

Local Government is in crisis. The numbers tell the story: local authority rates increased 12.2 percent in the 12 months to the March 2025 quarter – a 14 percent contribution to the 2.5 percent annual increase in inflation. As a result of the reckless spending of local authorities, interest rates are staying higher for longer, with all New Zealanders paying the price.

So why have local authorities gone off the rails?