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Uncertain time for local bodies

Fans of entertaining political theatre might have felt saddened by yesterday’s news that Auckland’s potential Trump-like populist and disruptor, the controversial restaurateur Leo Molloy, was pulling out of the city’s mayoral race.

While reports suggested Molloy was demoralised by a poll that saw him slip from second place to third, behind Efeso Collins and Wayne Brown, and campaign funding was an issue, his abrupt decision makes the country’s most important mayoral election that much less interesting. Which is not to endorse Molloy and his ‘‘colourful’’ approach to political communication. But there is no doubt local body politics, already a hard sell with the public, just became slightly less exciting.

Candidate nominations and voter enrolments across the country closed at noon yesterday, with some interesting last-minute entrances. Dame Lynda Topp will run for council in Ashburton. Radio host and councillor Marcus Lush is taking a tilt at the mayoralty in Invercargill, held for a staggering 26 years by Sir Tim Shadbolt, and is also being challenged by Shadbolt’s adversarial deputy, Nobby Clark.

Despite his most recent term being marked by public struggles with councillors and officials, Shadbolt is running yet again. Ingeniously, he is also running for council, meaning he will probably stick around even if he loses the big job. That makes the Invercargill race one to watch. The battle of Nelson should also be gripping. Although he retired from national politics in 2021 after 31 years, former MP Nick Smith has re-emerged to run for the spot vacated by three-term mayor Rachel Reese.

Races without incumbent mayors usually provide the greatest drama. Auckland and Christchurch both offer genuinely nail-biting contests for that reason. Christchurch’s race, likely to be a showdown between David Meates and Phil Mauger, should be the closest in the city since the earthquake-affected 2010 contest. A clear Auckland winner is still hard to pick despite Molloy’s withdrawal.

Wellington has an incumbent in Andy Foster but he will be threatened by current MP Paul Eagle.

Low voter turnout is one reason mayoral contests are hard to pick. Council elections are notorious for a lack of voter participation; turnout has declined at a national level from 57% in 1989 to 42.2% in 2019.

Otago University politics professor Janine Hayward outlined the reasons why voters are apathetic. Candidates have a low profile, the public often doesn’t know elections are happening, local media struggles to interest people in campaigns, the issues themselves fail to interest voters, and people feel their vote would not make a difference.

Apart from some highly competitive mayoral contests in the larger centres, there is declining interest for would-be politicians and community board members. A number of district councils received just one nomination for mayor

Why the lack of interest? Some blame the pay, although that varies depending on the roles. Others talk of pressure. The experience of Christchurch councillor Sara Templeton, trolled by an online misogynist, shows local politics has the potential to be as draining and personally demanding as national politics.

Then there is the tension between the Government and the regions. New Zealand is said to have an unusually centralised level of decision-making compared to other countries and initiatives such as the Three Waters reform and the Local Government Review will make it more centralised still. The Government also dictated housing rules to some urban councils.

That means there is a declining stature for local politics. A sense of uncertainty hangs over the sector, making it less attractive for candidates and less interesting for time-starved voters.

Opinion

en-nz

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/283162907374233

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