In local Government land, having Commissioners brought in by the Government is seen as the worst possible outcome. 

Basically, it is having central government say “you have done such a poor job, we are firing you”. 

It is done rarely, the only three I can think of being Kaipara, Environment Canterbury and Tauranga.

Environment Canterbury had Commissioners brought in in 2010, with seven being appointed. They remained in place until 2016. 

Kaipara had its council removed and Commissioners appointed in 2012 with the Local Government Minister at the time saying ““The review team identified that the serious governance and financial challenges facing Kaipara District Council are beyond the current councillors’ ability to resolve”. 

Four Commissioners replaced the elected Council. From what I can see, none lived in Kaipara at the time of appointment. Kaipara did not get self-control again until seven years later.

Tauranga had Commissioners appointed in early 2021 and did not get back to normal again until last weekend.

In effect, for the period of time that Commissioners were in place in these three councils, democracy was put to one side for several years. 

Locals could not choose who their elected representatives would be; rather, this was decided by Wellington. In many cases, the Commissioners came from out of the area concerned.

Pretty grim state of affairs huh?

So, you would think that, upon the restoration of democracy to Tauranga, people would be happy, excited, involved!?!

Yeah, na. The percentage of people that exercised their right to vote in the first democratic local election in Tauranga since 2019 was 31. That’s right, only 31% of people could be bothered ticking a box on a bit of paper and putting in a box. I shudder to think of those who fought and died to give people this right for it to be ignored.

Not that I blame the people, well, I do a bit, but the reality is that the model of local government in New Zealand is broken and that’s the biggest part of the reason why people can’t get excited enough to vote, even when democracy has been denied them for years.

There is so much wrong with how we do local government in New Zealand that the previous government appointed a panel (on the request of Local Government NZ) to identify the problems and propose some solutions. 

That Panel spent two years drafting the Future For Local Government report. I’ve read the report a couple of times; there is a lot in it to take in. 

There were bits I didn’t agree with, bits I thought would never fly, and lots that, with a bit of willpower and mahi, could make a real difference.

Two weeks ago, the Government threw the report out in its entirety. Not just the bits it didn’t like, but the whole lot. Which staggers and disappoints me.

Leaving us a broken system, a system where rates are outstripping people’s ability to pay across the country, a system where councils face running out of debt capacity this decade under current demands from Wellington, a system where only 31% of eligible people could be bothered voting after having been denied the right to, with no plan for how to fix the problem. Basically, the Government is saying “problem, what problem?”.

As the system collapses, I think we are going to see more councils dissolved and Commissioners appointed around the country, but that is only a band aid solution. 

Without some sort of plan to solve the issues we face, and support from a government to do so, I really don’t know what the future of Local Government in New Zealand is, but I don’t see it being a bright one.