Peter Williams: Democracy always - please

All votes must be of equal value

Some politicians just don’t get the concept of democracy.

That every New Zealander, citizen and resident, gets to cast a vote of equal value in central and local government elections has to be the cornerstone of a modern New Zealand.

Yet two recent incidents make it very clear that there remain people in leadership positions who don’t trust the people to make the “right” decisions.

Mike's Minute: This Government has restored democracy

In a week in which the Government launched another action plan, the action that counts most for many is the announcement the Prime Minister told us was coming this week and arrived yesterday.

Local councils and Māori seats.

A lot of the overlay around this Government, involving all three parties, is about the Māorification of this country.

Ele Ludemann: Left’s disdain for democracy

The government is restoring democracy in local government:

The Coalition Government will restore the rights of communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.

“The Government will introduce a Bill in the coming months that will restore the ability for communities to petition their councils to hold binding polls on Māori ward decisions. This will include holding binding polls on wards that were established without the ability for local referendums to take place.