The region’s mayors are not concerned about the Government’s move to restrict the voting rights of unelected members of council committees, but that perspective was not unanimous.
Earlier this month, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said that only those who have been elected will be able to vote under a planned law change.
“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.”
He referenced examples across the North Island where iwi representatives and young people have been given voting rights without being elected.
“That’s not democratic, so we’re fixing it.”
Tasman Mayor Tim King says the removal of voting rights would not have a “major” impact council business.
Tasman also has two unelected members on its Audit and Risk Committee.
But iwi representatives with voting rights are in the process of being appointed to its two other standing committees – Strategy, Finance, and Performance and Environment, Regulatory, and Operations. A third iwi representative is slated to sit on the full council, but that role does not have voting rights.
“They’re there to bring a perspective,” Tim says. “I never anticipated their vote making the difference… between something passing or not, and I doubt they would have chosen to use it in those circumstances anyway.”
He says he raised the issue with the independent members of the Audit and Risk Committee who had not seen the change as a significant issue.
“In my experience, the elected members on the audit and risk committee do take significant notice of the views and perspectives of independent members, as they should.”
Tim adds that the “really critical” decisions of public interest, like setting the rates and major policy decisions, were only ever made by the full council, on which unelected members cannot vote.
Nelson and Tasman are closely linked and have several joint committees, some of which have unelected members.
The New Zealand Transport Agency representative on the Joint Regional Transport Committee was not affected by the Government announcement.
But the Joint Regional Landfill Committee, which has one iwi representative with voting rights, and the Joint Regional Sewerage Committee, which has an iwi representative and an independent member, each with voting rights, would both be affected by the change.
Tasman councillor Kit Maling chairs the sewerage committee and said the Government was interfering in council business, “again”.
He believed the move was specifically aimed at removing voting rights from iwi representatives, with other roles, such as those in the audit and risk committees, caught in the mix.
“I don’t think the Government has thought it through,” he says.
He acknowledged that, to his recollection, no sewerage items had been split and decided by unelected members’ votes, but said councils were legally obligated to work with iwi.
“The people I see around the council table from iwi add value… But I don’t know that the value will be just the same if they don’t get a vote.”
Kit thought iwi often took environmental and long-term perspectives that were invaluable.
“With a three-year election cycle, people tend to take a very short-term view, and I don’t think that helps, especially when you’re talking major infrastructure.
The independent member has traditionally had engineering or wastewater expertise, providing additional insights and scrutiny that many elected members cannot provide, Kit added.
“I’m not an engineer; I’m a retired copper and orchardist.”
The changes will be included in the Local Government (System Improvements) Bill which is currently before Parliament.
Once passed, councils will have six months to review their delegations and appointments before the law change takes effect.
