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Phil Walter/Getty Images Guy C. Charlton, Associate Professor, University of New England With a general election looming, the largest shake-up of New Zealand’s local government system in three decades sits on the table. New Zealanders are being invited to have their say on the draft policy proposal, Simplifying Local Government, which would fundamentally reshape how councils operate. The government’s case for reform is that the status quo is inefficient, confusing to voters and “tangled in duplication, disagreements and decisions that don’t make sense”. It argues these problems will only intensify as councils take on new responsibilities, from resource management reform to water services and climate adaptation. Its proposed solution: removing an entire tier of elected local government. While reform may well be overdue, the proposal raises crucial questions about democratic representation, accountability and how regional decisions should be made. These issues sit at the heart of the consultation – and they matter as much as the promise of efficiency or lower costs. How the proposed changes would work The proposal would abolish regional councils and replace them with combined territorial boards made up of locally elected mayors. Voters would elect only one set of local representatives, rather than both territorial and regional councillors. The new boards would take on the legal responsibilities of existing regional councils, while much of the regional bureaucracy would remain. Mayors on the boards would not have equal voting power; instead, votes would be weighted by population, with adjustments set by the Local Government Commission. The proposal also allows – though not as a preferred option – for a Crown Commissioner to be appointed to a territorial boards. Depending on the circumstances, that commissioner could have no vote, a veto, or more than half of the weighted votes, to ensure national interests are taken into account. The boards’ primary task would be to prepare […]