Rural Voice Must Be Preserved

The law must change to retain a rural voice in local government, said Don Nicolson, vice-president of Federated Farmers of New Zealand.



Mr Nicolson was commenting on the Local Government Commission’s operational review of the Local Government Act and Local Electoral Act.



“In 2001 the Local Electoral Act was amended to make representation arrangements based strictly on population quotas, with councils losing their previous flexibility to consider factors like community of interest,” said Mr Nicolson.



“The Act has so far failed in its ambition to increase participation and improve representation. There was also a drop in rural councillors following the 2004 elections and this trend seems likely to continue following the latest round of representation reviews prior to the current elections.



“This is a huge concern to farmers given the reliance on property value rates to fund local government. Rural people already pay a disproportionate amount of rates yet they use most council services far less than do people in towns. We are increasingly seeing ‘taxation without representation’.



“Many local authorities share Federated Farmers’ frustrations but they are themselves hamstrung by the Act. Appeals to the Local Government Commission failed if they did not meet the Act’s strict population criteria.



“Federated Farmers has asked the commission to consider restoring the pre-2001 legislation to give councils more flexibility to help preserve a rural voice. Only this and a major change to the way local government is funded will help address the concerns of longsuffering rural ratepayers.



“In the meantime the Federation is working hard to increase interest in the local elections through its Rates Report Card and Pledge Card initiatives”, said Mr Nicolson.