A regional councillor says he “fails to see the logic” in a law change that removed voting rights from non-elected members on council committees.
Horizons Regional Council acknowledged on Tuesday that members would be impacted on its climate action joint committee, passenger transport committee and the regional transport committee.
In June, the Government announced it would change the law so only elected councillors could vote on council committees.
Councils would not be able to appoint iwi representatives, those under the age of 18 and other “unelected” members as full voting members on committees, and they would no longer count towards a meeting’s quorum.
Councillor Elijah Pue said he was “struggling to understand the threat” non-elected members sitting on council committees had on good governance — particularly tangata whenua.
Pue said he “fails to see the logic” behind the move, but elected members did not have much choice in the matter other than being able to ask for an exemption.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said the change “strengthens democratic accountability” by ensuring only those voted in were able to vote.
This legislative restriction would begin in March 2027, with councils given until November 18 to submit an exemption to the minister and governor-general.
Councillor Fiona Gordon asked if the council and its impacted committees had time to meet and make a decision about an exemption before then.
Chief executive Michael McCartney said there was no way the council could have a meaningful decision by November 18, with the climate action joint committee’s next meeting in early December.
He suggested the council write to the minister by November 18, telling him that Horizons would have an exemption through by the end of the year.
On the change, councillor Hamish Easton said: “I’ve always been a bit of a believer that if you want to have a say, go get elected.”
The Department of Internal Affairs found every council in Aotearoa had at least one committee with an external member on it during a 2022-25 review.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
