David Seymour’s announcement that ACT may stand candidates in council elections triggered a discussion on Nick Mills’ talkback show on Newstalk ZB this morning about whether political parties should get involved in local government. But that mischievous genie escaped from the bottle a very long time ago.
The Labour Party has long regarded local politics as fertile ground, both at district and regional levels, and always fields a slate of Wellington City Council candidates with the party’s formidable organisational resources behind them.
Frank Kitts, Wellington’s longest-serving mayor (1956-74), was elected on the Labour ticket; so were Jim Belich and Fran Wilde. Four of the current councillors owe their loyalty to Labour, though only one (Teri O’Neill) acknowledges her allegiance in her profile on the council’s website.
Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter is a Labour man too, as is Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry. So Labour is a powerful force in local government, though it largely flies under the radar in terms of public visibility.
Then there are the Greens. Wellington got its first Green councillor, Stephen Rainbow, way back in 1989. Rainbow has moved a long way politically since then, shifting to the libertarian right to the extent that the current government felt comfortable appointing him as chief human rights commissioner, but there has been a more-or-less constant Green Party presence at the Wellington council table in the past few decades – to say nothing of two disastrous Green mayors, Celia Wade-Brown and Tory Whanau (who is Green in all but official designation).
So what about the other side? For decades Wellington had the conservative Citizens’ and Ratepayers’ Association, which was widely viewed as a National Party proxy. Its main purpose was to keep Labour out of power, in which role it was often successful. Sir Michael Fowler was a popular Citizens’ mayor (1974-83) and the Citizens’ Association often commanded a majority around the council table. But Ian Lawrence (1983-86) was the last Citizens’ mayor and the Citizens’ Association now seems defunct, not having stood a candidate since 1997. National itself has never stood candidates in council elections.
So now ACT is thinking about having a go – and why not? We should brace ourselves for howls of outrage, but ACT would only be doing what the Left has done (and very effectively) for decades.
As you state, Karl, there has been a political vacuum on the right in local body politics for decades. ACT would be wise to stake their claim and become the default right-of-centre alternative to the spendthrift lefties.
ReplyDeleteIf I was 10 years younger and more motivated I would be very tempted to put myself forward as an ACT Councillor for the Hastings District Council. The HDC sure as hell needs some.
ReplyDeleteNow my concentration is such that I value my afternoon siesta (most days) too much and I could be in danger of dropping off to sleep during the boring mundane parts of Council business.
It should go without saying that the real power in councils lies with the paid bureaucracy, which adopts the simple but very effective strategy of swamping elected councillors in a sea of impenetrable paperwork. The first task of any new councillor, regardless of their political leanings, should be to wrest back control.
ReplyDeleteI've been suggesting that the Nats stand candidates for a few years now, but keep getting howls of outrage from the diehards. The old days are gone, and the lefties are busy ruining the cities. Good on ACT for deciding to do this. Honestly, this is an area where they could run a joint ticket with the Nats.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Douglas. It has to be a coalition of the willing (centre and right) or you just get the usual fractured voting for multiple candidates and the formidable green machine in Wellington will again come through the middle, and look what that delivers. The greens have captured the postal voting system, which is why it must go. It has been and will continue to be manipulated by them in Wellington.
ReplyDeleteAlso as Douglas mentioned, there will be howls of outrage at the 'far right' standing candidates while the alt left greens see no problem with their ludicrous policies and decision making leading to the destruction of our city.
I will certainly be assisting any group that emerges as a concerted and co-ordinated coalition of the willing.
With Luxon at the helm, more than a few voters have lost faith in national. Judith colllins’ defence of a royal navy shipping clerk as captain of a 150 million dollar ship belonging to taxpayers is another misstep. Act is selling a simple message. Back to basics and lots of ratepayers must surely agree. Now is not the time for cycle lanes and hero projects that benefit niche ‘wants and needs’.
ReplyDeleteWhat is more insidious are those mayoral candidates that deliberately hide their political allegiances from the voters.
ReplyDeleteA lack of political/civil education in our society has lead to overwhelming political ignorance and apathy among voters which is the root cause of where we are today, both locally and nationally.