Invercargill City councillors have rejected recommendations from staff and mana whenua to seek an exemption under a new Government voting rights rule.
This week, the council discussed a recent legislative change that removed voting rights for non-elected members on council committees.
A report prepared for the meeting recommended the council seek an exception for those members.
Waihōpai Rūnaka also supported this for its representative, Matua Mike Bain.
But the council ultimately decided against making a request, with mayor Tom Campbell saying he was uncomfortable with his council applying for exceptions for some but not others.
Campbell said independent members could still provide expert advice under the new law, and recommended the council avoid a process that “may have an outcome that’s discriminatory”.
Councillor Ian Pottinger supported having the members on committees, but pointed out they did not get a vote at full council.
“The fact that they vote or not is, to me, absolutely irrelevant. There is no worth to it. So I don’t support them getting a vote at all.”
Independent members set to lose voting rights under the Government’s law change include Matua Bain, water committee deputy chair Lee Babe, risk and assurance committee chair Ross Jackson, and risk and assurance committee member Lesley Soper.
Three members on the community wellbeing fund subcommittee would also be impacted, plus a Te Ao Marama representative on a separate subcommittee.
Matua Bain was present at Monday’s meeting, and said being able to vote at committee level helped get recommendations to full council.
Councillor Alex Crackett said the members should be “valued with a vote”, while councillor Andrea de Vries hoped the council would fight for the independent and specialist advice they provided.
Meanwhile, councillor Steve Broad took aim at where the changes had come from, saying the Government was “unnecessarily committed to division, fear, and removing the strength of community voices”.
A report prepared for the meeting explained changes were announced by the Government on 2 June and passed into law on 18 September.
In June, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said there were examples of individuals being given voting rights on council committees without being elected, which was “not democratic”.
Councils then had six months to implement the change, with a deadline of 18 November for lodging an exemption.
“The Minister has made it clear exceptions will rarely be granted,” the report said.
Non-elected members will be able to stay on the council’s committees in advisory roles.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
