Maori representation – Democracy in-action?
Does ‘ticking the Maori box’ make a difference? Kataraina O’Brien and Fiona McTavish are from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, the first council in the...
Category : Governance
Local Government Think Tank
Peter McKinlay announces a new resource to generate research and inform debate for the sector. Hamilton City Council, Masterton and Waipa District Councils and Rotorua...
9 years a leader: Lawrence Yule’s legacy
Lawrence Yule has steered the local government sector for the past nine years in his role as president of Local Government New Zealand. On the...
Pick the tick Local authority electoral system decisions
Councils need to start considering the representation arrangements that will apply at the next local authority elections in October 2019. This involves 56 councils that...
Bribery & corruption: How vulnerable is your council?
Peter Winefield says bribery and corruption could happen in any council in New Zealand. He suggests some practical ways to guard against it. And he...
Mana Whakahono a Rohe : Iwi participation arrangements What do they mean for councils?
Allowing iwi authorities to participate in resource management and decision-making processes is not the same as handing decision-making over to unelected parties, says Brookfields Lawyers...
Council–Māori engagement: New models on the horizon?
Māori have long argued for their own wards and constituencies within local government. Now a paper by Victoria University of Wellington’s Maria Bargh outlines new...
Post-election trauma: How newly-elected mayors and CEs can build common ground
Good chemistry, frequent communication and helping a new mayor get to grips with the practicalities of their new role go a long way towards creating...
Bribery & corruption: Recent cases highlight concerns
In the country’s largest ever bribery case, former Auckland Transport senior manager Murray Noone and Projenz MD Stephen Borlase were recently sentenced in the Auckland...
Local authority elections: When people don’t vote
By Bill Conroy, local governmentite So the public has spoken. The elderly have once again ruined the outcome of many local authority election results across...