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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. 

Mon, 19 Sep 2016

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'

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

RNZ: Call for inquiry into fatal NZDF helicopter crash

 

 

 

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NZ POLITICS DAILY: To vote or not? Maybe you shouldn’t
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