NZ POLITICS DAILY: To vote or not? Maybe you shouldn’t
Two million eligible voters are unlikely to vote in the current local government elections. We need to understand why the majority of the public are turning away from electoral politics.
Two million eligible voters are unlikely to vote in the current local government elections. We need to understand why the majority of the public are turning away from electoral politics.
Two million eligible voters are unlikely to vote in the current local government elections. We need to understand why the majority of the public are turning away from electoral politics.
Forget about the so-called “missing million” of parliamentary elections – in 2016 we need to be talking about the “mission millions”. There are about two million eligible voters who won’t bother to participate in the local authority elections the postal ballots have just been mailed out for. At the last local elections, voter turnout dropped to only 41 per cent, and there’s no reason to suggest it will improve in 2016. There’s clearly some sort of democratic deficit in operation when so many people are turning their backs on democracy. So, should we vote? Does it matter if we don’t? What are the reasons for the declining turnout?
Should you vote?
Does voting matter? And, in fact, does local government matter? There’s always a resounding “yes!” being called out to the public just before elections. The latest such call is from economist Shamubeel Eaqub, who asserts that it’s important to Make your local government vote count. He draws parallels with the recent Brexit vote, suggesting that if only young people had voted in greater numbers, the whole controversial referendum wouldn’t have passed.
Eaqub’s main point is that by voting you can make a big difference to who’s in power, and those alienated from the system would be better looked after by politicians. But he does see some failings of the system, which he’d like to see fixed.
Newshub’s Dianna Vezich and Shannon Redstall also make the case for participating: "It's really important to vote because those that run the councils impact on a lot of areas in our lives - from driving your car to going to the library to turning the tap on for water” – see: Pick your mayoral candidate… out of a hat? They also point out that it’s a waste of money if you don’t participate, with councils spending about $5.80 per person on the elections.
Similarly, RNZ’s Mava Moayyed says “Local elections have huge impact on everything from festivals, concerts and street parties; to drinking water, sewerage, and roading” – see: What can local body politicians do to convince us to vote? And there are often very different views on how to deliver such services, and who benefits from them according to blogger Christine Rose – see: Local government: seldom sexy but always essential.
It’s university students who are called on to vote by University of Otago politics student Jarred Griffiths – see his student newspaper article, Why local politics actually matter.
Alienated youth and other demographics
Young people are normally seen as the biggest problem – or victim – of declining voter turnout. This is well expressed in Eva Corlett’s RNZ article, Young voters feel locked out of local body politics. Here’s the key part: “This year, only two thirds of people under 30 are enrolled to vote, but all age groups over 35 have nearly 100 percent enrolment. A recent Auckland University-led mayoral debate drew a crowd of just 40 students, a reflection of the low turnout of younger voters in local elections. At the debate, some came to listen, some just to eat lunch but all of the students RNZ spoke to said local body elections were inaccessible. They said it wasn't apathy which was the problem, it was poor political process. Many students expressed their frustration at the lack of centralised information about the candidates and their policies.”
According to Janine Rankin this is a self-reinforcing problem: “If young people do not vote, then what is the point of candidates' trying to win their favour?... And that sets up what some of the experts call "a cycle of neglect". Councillors tend to work for their constituency, not the others. Even if they try to represent other interests, they often don't quite ‘get it’.” – see: The young, the very young, the footsore and the lost.
If young voters could be brought into the process, TVNZ reports the impact could be significant – see: Young people seen as 'sleeping giants' for impact they can have on local elections.
For further details on the age issue, see Sally Lindsay’s NBR article, How many voters will front up? Not many, based on stats and failed campaigns (paywalled). She reports that in the last elections, “Surveys found the highest voter turnout was in the 70-plus age group, at 89%, and the lowest was in the 18-29 age group, at 34%.” She says this isn’t about to improve: “It’s predicted the number of voters in local council elections will drop even further as more young people take less of an interest and forsake the ballot box.”
See also Auckland University politics student Weiyi Zhang’s research on the demographics of non-participation in local elections: Age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and declining voter turnout in Auckland’s local elections. This shows that those groups who are significantly less inclined to vote include youth, the poor, and Asians.
The director of The Asian Network Inc is also quoted about Asian non-voting in Kurt Bayer’s article, Candidates could change voter apathy. He suggests that it’s a more recent problem for Asians than in the past: "People were quite proactive, they were fresh migrants but these days I can see that it is diminishing." He puts the problem down to a lack of Asian candidates: "If the candidates can't connect to the minds and needs of the community, then how can people be inspired to vote?"
The big problems with local government elections
Perhaps the problem with non-voting isn’t so much with the voters, lack of information, or various demographic issues, but more with the failure of local government institutions and politicians to provide anything worth voting for. Certainly there are reports of many election campaigns lacking dynamism, real substantive issues being debated, or an even a real choice of options. In this case, maybe it makes sense not to vote.
Today’s column by Dave Armstrong reports on the Wellington mayoral campaign and one rather passionless mayoral meeting in particular – see: Mayoral race unpredictable but little between candidates. He suggests the problem is the lack of political differences between the candidates, and the lack of big issues being debated: “though there are eight candidates from which to choose, it's difficult finding that much difference between many of them. At the Prefab meeting, genial fringe 'Locality Party' candidate Johnny Overton, in between advocating revolution, commented that those sharing the stage with him were ‘all the same; all neo-liberals’. He's sort of right.”
Simon Wilson believes that Auckland is suffering from the same lack of choice and debate – he has a feature in the latest Metro magazine that suggests frontrunners Phil Goff and Victoria Crone have relatively similar programmes, and that these aren’t that different to the incumbent – see: The man in the middle.
For Wilson, this politically centrist and bland race is a major problem, because “Auckland has a crisis. Actually, it has several crises. The litany is well known: housing, transport, health and education issues in the poorer communities” etc. Furthermore, public confidence in the city council has plummeted: “In a Citizen Insights Monitor survey released by Auckland Council in June, just 15 per cent of us said we were satisfied with the council’s performance. Only 17 per cent of us said we trust it. This is disgraceful. Councils elsewhere commonly enjoy more than 50 per cent support; in a 2015 survey in Brisbane, satisfaction with the delivery of services was at 70 per cent. These results should have led to a major reckoning inside the council, with public acknowledgment they were getting things badly wrong and a publicly announced commitment to fix the problem. Incredibly, there’s been no sign of that at all.”
Wilson concludes that “A big vision is required, all over again, and bold execution has to follow.” But he seems unconvinced that Phil Goff or any other candidate are up the task.
Interestingly, one mayoral candidate, Mark Thomas, has some similar complaints, saying “this hasn't been a contest about ideas, it's been a contest about profile” – see the Herald’s Auckland mayoral candidate Mark Thomas asked to withdraw from race.
Political scientist Barry Gustafson has also commented on the failure of the Auckland mayoral candidates to convince the public. He is reported as believing that “not one candidate's election manifesto excites” and “neither have any delivered sober yet brilliant solutions to Auckland's problems that inspire” – see Simon Maude’s Boring Auckland mayoral candidates can't trump 'The Donald'. Furthermore, the candidates aren’t talking about the issues that matter: “It's a lack of interest, people register things they're really interested in, they're interested in some issues, transport, tax and housing, they're really annoyed and worried about a lot things but it doesn't necessarily translate into people because they're not sure where [the candidates] stand on these issues.”
This makes for a boring campaign, which the Herald’s Bernard Orsman has reported as being a “battle of accountants” without any big ideas – see: Mayoral hopefuls share their vision for future of Auckland.
In the end, it looks likely that voter turnout at the election will once again be incredibly low – it could even drop below 40 percent. Surely it’s this result that sends the strongest message that democracy isn’t working.
Finally, for satire about the difference your vote might make, here’s Ben Uffindell’s account of the heated debate and struggle on the Albert-Eden Community Board – see: Stakes high in local board election as outcome could affect placement of tree relative to curb.
Today’s content
Local government
The Press Editorial: Don't let apathy win
Dave Armstrong (Stuff): Mayoral race unpredictable but little between candidates
Herald: Local Body Elections: Changing the guard
Janine Rankin (Stuff): The young, the very young, the footsore and the lost
Amber-Leigh Woolf (Stuff): Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt wants eighth year in office
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Hamilton City councillors' attendance records under the spotlight
Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Hamilton City Council candidates keen to reinvest back into social housing
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Are taxpayers funding cycling lobbyists?
Cherie Howie (Herald): Election campaigning for dummies
TVNZ: Young people seen as 'sleeping giants' for impact they can have on local elections
Shamubeel Eaqub (Stuff): Make your local government vote count
Mike Yardley (Stuff): Apathy rules in Christchurch elections Elena McPhee (Stuff): Marlborough councillors brand Whale Oil leak ‘despicable'
Elena McPhee (Stuff): Marlborough councillors brand Whale Oil leak 'despicable'
Rob Hosking (NBR): Vocal at the local (paywalled)
Rodney Hide (NBR): Fixing dysfunctional local government (paywalled)
Dianna Vezich and Shannon Redstall (Newshub): Pick your mayoral candidate… out of a hat?
Sarah Roberts and Evan Harding (Stuff): Shadbolts at war over who owns their name
Aaron Leaman (Stuff):A glimpse inside Hamilton mayoral candidates' fridges
Daisy Hudson (Stuff): Timaru District Council candidate threatened with arrest
Kris Dando (Stuff): Porirua mayoral candidate demands empty state houses be opened for families
Janine Rankin (Stuff): Youngster gets invitation to enrol to vote
Colin Williams (Stuff): Upper Hutt election hopefuls sing off the same songbook
Taryn Utiger (Stuff): Mayoral candidates asked - Trump or Clinton for president
Amy Baker (Stuff): Council programme gets students voting
Simon Maude (Stuff): Just how powerful is Auckland's mayor?
Daily Blog: The actual differences between Lianne Dalzeil and John Minto – For Christchurch Voters
David Buuroughs (Taranaki Daily News): Candidates get grilled at speed dating debate
Dan Satherley (Newshub): Hamilton City Council hopeful masters the art of politics
Kate Robertson, Jennie Kendrick (Salient): Rating the mayoral candidates
Tom Carnegie (Auckland Now): Aucklanders will be forced to pay for plastic bags under Phil Goff's rule
Herald: Put a charge on plastic supermarket bags, says Goff
Bernard Orsman (Herald): An open letter to the new Auckland Mayor
NBR: Crone vows to fight ‘still winnable' mayoral election 'through to the end' (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland mayoral candidate John Palino promises Bill of Rights for ratepayers
Sally Lindsay (NBR): Bright gets serial litigant to take case against Auckland Council (paywalled)
John Roughan: Where is a mayor who can fix Auckland's democratic facade?
Evan Harding (Southland Times): Dozens of Mayor Tim Shadbolt's election signs flogged and defaced
Spinoff: Warcast #6: Generation Zero expose the good and terrible council candidates
Spinoff: Announcing the Spinoff War for Auckland election endorsement tool
Greg Presland (Standard): Just vote – Auckland Council version
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Mayoral candidate Vic Crone has market solution for social housing
Jason Walls (NBR): Goff talks to NZ Super Fund, but won't change position on key assets (paywalled)
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Corrupt Labour candidate still helping Goff
Voxy: Show Your Love candidate website
Standard: Translating the local government election jargon
Pete George (Your NZ): Local body election – voting papers
RNZ: No consensus on fixing $4b Auckland transport gap
Fish Dumping
Michael Morrah, Simon Wong (Newshub): Investigation finds MPI's fish dumping decision 'flawed'
Laura Bootham (RNZ): MPI 'captured' by fishing industry – Greenpeace
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Email shows MPI feared prosecuting fish dumpers
RNZ: Decision not to prosecute fish dumpers was 'flawed' – inquiry
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Independent report into illegal fish dumping slams MPI's 'flawed' handling of Operation Achilles
Gareth Morgan (Morgan Foundation): Fishing Quota Management System Needs Reform
Kermadec Marine Sanctuary
Mihingarangi Forbes (RNZ): Te Ohu Kaimoana back in Kermadec sanctuary talks
Waatea News: No cause to walk on Kermadec stuff-up
Graham Cameron (First we take Manhattan): The right issue, the wrong voice: the Kermadecs and Te Ohu Kaimoana
Lloyd Burr (Newshub): Opinion: Greens have turned back on Treaty
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Concessions needed on Kermadec sanctuary – English
Newshub: Maori blame Smith for Kermadec stalemate
Herald Editorial: Trouble over Kermadecs of Govt's own making
Claire Trevett (Herald): Key dodges Maori Party bullet over Kermadecs
NBR: The Nation Transcript - Kermadecs: Fox confirms Maori Party was willing to walk away
Mike Butler (Breaking Views): Kermadecs, tribes, fishing rights
Stephanie Rodgers (Standard): The Kermadecs and racist environmentalism
Pete George (Your NZ): Māori versus the environmental lobby
Environment
Isaac Davison (Herald): Iwi bracing for another fight against seabed mining
Newshub: Petition calls for moratorium on seabed mining
No Right Turn: The effects of dairy intensification
No Right Turn: You shouldn't have to go to court to get the law enforced
Labour
Bryan Gould: What More Can Labour Do?
Steve Braunias (Herald): Secret Diary of Andrew Little
Phil Duncan (Redline): Can the Labour Party survive?
Stacey Kirk (Stuff):'Campaigning on problems not the answer' - Andrew Little takes leaf out of Justin Trudeau's book
Herald: Andrew Little talks diversity and selfies with Canada's Justin Trudeau
Newshub: Andrew Little photobombs leaders' selfie
David Farrar (KIwiblog): Vernon Small on Labour and the polls
Colin Craig defamation case
Anna Leask (Herald): Mysterious Mr X quoted in Dirty Politics and Hidden Agendas revealed as Colin Craig
Kelly Dennett (Stuff): Colin Craig cross examined over use of 'Mr X' in leaflet
RNZ: Colin Craig posed as 'Mr X' for self-interview
Anna Leask (Herald): Colin Craig responds to 'highly damaging' allegations and 'Dirty Politics'
Herald: Colin Craig claims former press secretary 'propositioned' him before resignation
RNZ: Colin Craig denies sending ex-press secretary explicit texts
Josh Fagan (Stuff): Colin Craig denies sexual harassment, explicit texts, but admits there was a kiss
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): Craig denies curtains went up to hide meetings with MacGregor
John Drinnan (Zagzigger): Media Drags MacGregor Through Mud
The Civilian: Colin Craig opens defence with 23-page-long poem about his loins
NZ chairing the UN
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Tight security surrounding John Key's big week at UN
Audrey Young (Herald): Syria row puts Key in hot seat
RNZ: Need 'to invest heavily' in Syria peace process – McCully
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): US Syria strikes raise the stakes for PM's Security Council spotlight moment
Patrick Gower (Newshub): Opinion: 'Diplomatic explosion' hits NZ's big global moment
Health
RNZ: Health outlook for obese children grim – researcher
Stuff: NZ study warns obese children are at high risk of heart, liver disease and diabetes
Matt Burrows (Newshub):Helen Kelly brings home alternative Cuban cancer medicine
Herald: Helen Kelly: 'More determined than ever to campaign'
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Helen Kelly's painful month without cannabis: 'it doesn't look good'
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): E-cigarettes fail to get Health Ministry support
Nauru
Mei Heron (RNZ): Australia 'passing the buck' on Nauru - Labour
No Right Turn: We should do the right thing on Nauru
Chiefs sexual abuse allegations
Cherie Howie (Herald): New details emerge in Chiefs' stripper scandal
Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Chiefs rugby scandal: Bus driver admits touching stripper
RNZ: No comment on Chiefs investigation leak
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Ladies - quit the reverse sexism
Justice
Kerre McIvor (Herald): Staying in the headlines
Lizzie Marvelly (Herald): Two punch-ups, two outcomes
Pat Brittenden: Please don’t make me side with the rednecks
Carla Penman (RNZ): Misconduct allegations upheld against 135 police officers
Newshub: Police meet Maori adviser after incident
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): As NZers scramble to comprehend that their justice system is racist – a Maori gets threatened with arrest for speaking Maori
Eugene Bingham, Paula Penfold (Stuff): New Zealand's racist justice system - Our law is not colour-blind
Amy Maas (Stuff): Veteran cop who criticised new police media policy hauled in front of top brass
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Raising the youth justice age has to happen - so what's the holdup?
Herald: CYF blamed for kids in police cells
Parliament
Dom Post Editorial:If the price is right, let Parliament build a new office block
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Give up now on the new building
Winston Peters (RadioLive): New Parliamentary building - cull the MP's!
Andrew Gunn (Herald): When the boffins rule the interwebs
New Zealand’s regions
Russell Blackstock (Herald): Rebooting New Zealand's regions in the shadow of powerhouse Auckland a tricky conundrum
Herald on Sunday editorial: Shrinking towns should try 'smart decline'
Jonathan Milne(SST): Is your local police base, bank or supermarket being shut down or mothballed?
Newshub: Minginui: Hope for a town that progress forgot
Child welfare
RNZ: UN challenges NZ on child poverty
RNZ: UN committee questions focus of NZ's new child agency
Stacey Kirk (Stuff): UN questions New Zealand over narrow focus on vulnerable children
Karen Nimmo (Stuff): Sticks and stones will break my bones but names can really hurt me
Katherine Dolan (Stuff): New Zealand is no paradise: Children are not safe here
Interest: The Morgan Foundation's Jess Berentson-Shaw looks in detail at the MBIE Child Poverty report
Housing
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Housing scheme won't tackle rising homelessness – Labour
Rob Stock (Stuff): The great half-billion KiwiSaver home withdrawal
Richard Meadows (Stuff): Budget Buster: Renters, you’re not off the hook yet
Teresa Ramsey (Stuff): Thames housing at "crisis point"
Catherine Harris (Stuff): Government's $750m Northcote housing project a sign of the times
Laine Moger (Stuff): Government to develop 1200 new homes in Auckland
Tax
Brian Gaynor (Herald): Apple's tax nightmare opens door for NZ
Deborah Russell (Briefing Papers): New Zealand’s tax system: Internal coherence is not enough
Catherine Harris (Stuff): IRD fights growing cash economy among builders, tradies
Constitution
Anthony Hubbard (Stuff): How to stop our rulers always getting their way
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Palmer’s constitution
Pete George (Your NZ): A constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand?
Pete George (Your NZ): And what about ‘Aotearoa’?
Mike Butler (Breaking Views): Palmer's Aotearoa constitution
Employment
Alexa Cook (RNZ): Prisoners train to fill farming labour gap
Stuff: 'Significant' name and accent discrimination by NZ employers
Rodney Hide (Herald): How unions took on My Food Bag and lost
Other
RNZ: Labour calls for immigration system to be reviewed
Newshub: Labour claims NZ's migration system 'broken'
Dom Post Editorial: TVNZ must name its high-earners
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Dad who foots all the bills forced to pay extra child support
Peeni Henare (RadioLive): Māori Party are leaving Auckland whānau out in the cold
Herald: David v Jacinda: Nationals pushing left of Labour
Peter Aranyi (The Paepae): The harms of government hacking, and some suggested controls (Access Now)
John-Michael Swannix (Newshub): Ngāpuhi trustees want to restart negotiations
RNZ: Women's Refuge needs more funding - and soon
Katherine Dolan (Stuff): New Zealand is no paradise: Rugby, racism and homophobia
Katherine Dolan (Stuff): New Zealand is no paradise, we're all drunk
Deborah Hill Cone (Herald): Finding audacity to criticise country
Steven Cowan (Against the current): You’ve never had it so good!
Brittany Baker (Stuff): Charities are dealing with national financial reporting changes
Herald: Nanogirl: Incentives needed to boost uptake of electric vehicles
Newshub: More charging points for electric cars
Stuff: Women's suffrage anniversary marks Christchurch's radical past - and present