Voting Rights Cut for Non-elected Council Members

Non-elected members will lose voting rights on council committees.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts announced changes to the Local Government Act that will restrict voting to elected councillors only.

"Councillors are directly accountable to voters for their decisions. We are amending the Local Government Act 2002 so only elected members hold voting rights at council committee meetings," Watts said.

The minister said councils and the public had raised concerns about unelected individuals holding voting rights, undermining decision-making and diluting the influence of democratically elected members.

"We've seen examples in the Far North, in Tauranga and in Hastings where individuals, such as iwi representatives and young people aged under 18, have been appointed to council committees and given voting rights without being elected by the community," Watts said.

"That's not democratic, so we're fixing it."

Watts said while councils could still appoint non-elected members for their skills and knowledge, those individuals were not elected by ratepayers and had no democratic accountability.

"Councils can still appoint non-elected members to offer professional advice and represent communities but those appointments will not come with voting rights or count towards a quorum," he said.

Statutory committees and appointments agreed as part of Treaty settlements will be excluded. Committee members appointed under other Acts not covered by the Local Government Act will keep voting rights.

The changes will be included in the Local Government (System Improvements) Bill currently before Parliament. Once passed, councils will have six months to review their delegations and appointments before the law takes effect.

The move strengthens democratic accountability by ensuring only those directly answerable to voters can make binding decisions on council committees.