The local body elections will be held on October 8. Voting papers will be delivered from the September 16.
Iwi around the country want to be Council decision-makers, but many do not want to have to stand for elections. They want their representatives to be appointed onto councils with speaking and voting rights.
Appointing the un-elected and un-accountable special-interest representatives onto a council with voting rights is an attack on democracy. It changes the balance of power on councils, without the agreement of the local community. Such representatives are completely unaccountable to the local community and cannot be voted out.
We suggest that candidates standing for election should be asked where they stand on this important issue, using questions along the following lines:
- Would you oppose unelected representatives being appointed onto your Council with voting rights? YES/NO
- If a proposal to appoint unelected representatives with voting rights onto your Council won majority support, would you counter it by proposing a public referendum so that the final decision is made by local ratepayers? YES/NO
- If your Council has already established unelected representatives with voting rights, will you move that the positions be dis-established? YES/NO
If you send the responses to these questions from candidates in your area to us using the email address feedback@nzcpr.com, we will post them on this website, as a public service in the run up to the elections. Please ensure the replies are in writing from the candidates themselves.
Please also note that most candidates only have two responses relating to questions 1 and 2, since most councils do not have unelected representatives.
We have placed a 
by each council where there are unelected iwi have voting rights, and 
for those with speaking rights only. Please let us know if there are others. (Auckland has because it’s Board of unelected iwi were established by statute and cannot be revoked by a council decision)
Please note:
There are 16 Regional Councils: Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Canterbury Regional Council, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, Northland Regional Council, Otago Regional Council, Southland Regional Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Waikato Regional Council, Wellington Regional Council, West Coast Regional Council
There are 6 Unitary Authorities: Auckland Council, Chatham Islands Council, Gisborne District Council, Marlborough District Council, Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council
There are 12 City Councils and 54 District Councils:.