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Summarised by Centrist
Unelected council appointees are claiming they are being “silenced” after the government moved to stop them voting on council committees.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts says the Local Government Act will be changed so appointed members can advise councils, but cannot vote as though they were elected representatives.
The change follows controversy over the Far North District Council’s Te Kuaka Māori Strategic Relationships Committee, which has 10 appointed iwi and hapū representatives and six elected councillors.
All members can currently vote, although the committee can only make recommendations to the full council.
Aperahama Edwards, spokesman for Northland iwi chairs collective Te Kahu o Taonui, rejected claims that the arrangement was anti-democratic.
“This is not about democracy,” he said. “This is about silencing Māori voices in the rooms where decisions about our rohe are made.”
But the government’s position is that people who make voting decisions on behalf of ratepayers should be accountable to those ratepayers.
Far North councillor Davina Smolders, whose campaign helped trigger the proposed law change, said she was “delighted” the government had acted to “restore democratic accountability”.
Northland MP Grant McCallum said unelected appointees may provide useful advice, but should not hold the same voting rights as councillors.
“These unelected appointees do not have democratic accountability and therefore should not be given the same voting rights as elected councillors,” he said.
