This is edition 2025/185 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Hi all,
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. Turning Out for the Worse
Chris Trotter
- 🗳️ Crisis of Participation: Voter turnout in New Zealand’s 2025 local elections is expected to stay around a third of registered voters—barely a quarter of eligible ones—undermining democratic legitimacy.
- 💬 Defenders of Democracy: Some argue that “decisions are made by those who turn up,” dismissing non-voters as apathetic or content with the status quo.
- 💤 Apathy vs. Approval: Non-voting may reflect satisfaction with current policies, not alienation—but the growing majority of abstainers signals waning faith in democracy.
- 🏙️ Auckland Example: Mayor Wayne Brown’s strong margin suggests voters approved his moderate rate rises, unlike cities where bigger hikes sparked backlash.
- ⚖️ Wellington’s Frustration: Andrew Little’s mayoral win came from citizens exasperated by council infighting—proof that some still believe change is possible.
- 🔒 Illusion of Power: Many suspect elected officials aren’t truly in charge—feeding electoral inertia and the sense that voting changes nothing.
- 🏢 Bureaucratic Dominance: Local government laws give staff and “council-controlled organisations” effective control over policy implementation, leaving councillors dependent on bureaucrats for information and advice.
- 🤝 Captured Councils: Bureaucracies build loyal majorities by influencing mayors and key committee chairs, ensuring policies they oppose rarely advance.
- ⚔️ Backlash and Leaks: When public outrage forces councillors to resist, tensions erupt; staff can leak damaging information and use “codes of conduct” to neutralise critics.
- 📵 Silenced Reformers: Councillors are warned against speaking out on issues they campaigned on, lest they breach “impartiality” rules—making true reformers rare.
- 💰 Rogernomics Legacy: The neoliberal reforms of the 1980s transformed local government to limit democracy’s ability to challenge capital—hence the push to sell, not acquire, assets.
- 🎭 Potemkin Democracy: Local government now resembles a facade—appearing democratic while concealing bureaucratic and corporate control.
- 🤔 Bitter Irony: The real surprise is not that voter turnout is so low, but that anyone still believes it matters enough to vote at all.
