A climate of change: Calls for diversity at the council table in 2019

Friday, 26 July 2019

Hutt local government candidates Karen Yung and David Bassett agree diversity is good for council. (Video first published July 2019)

Old, white and wealthy men dominate local councils and political experts say it's a symptom of a flawed democracy.

A nation-wide Local Government New Zealand survey of elected members in 2016 left little doubt of the current archetype sitting on councils and local boards.

Europeans accounted for 89.8 per cent, with Pasifika and Asians virtually non-existent.

Of those elected to local government in 2016, 83 per cent were 51 or older.

* Huaraki's youngest councillor

* Nelson teen running for council

* Half of local government politicians should be women**

Karen Yung wants greater diversity, including more young people, on councils.

Since 1988, the number of elected members aged 40 or under has averaged 5.2 percent and 38 per cent are women. Only one per cent are under 30.

Those figures make Karen Yung a statistical oddity. The 30 year-old, who has Chinese heritage, was 27 when she was elected to the Petone Community Board in 2016.

She is running for council in October but her motives are broader than just winning a seat at the council table.

'It's pretty crazy to think that out of all the hundreds of elected members in Aotearoa New Zealand, only six per cent are under 40 years old, and only one percent (yes - one percent!) are 30 and under.'

Hutt City acting mayor David Bassett agrees diversity is good for council.

That is something she wants to change and Yung is campaigning to make New Zealand council's more diverse.

Those elected, should reflect the community they come from and should include all New Zealanders, not just older Pākehā men, she said.

The 'old white men' who always seem to end up at the helm of local councils are frustrating young people, who want a more proactive response to climate change, according to public policy expert Jonathan Boston.

Boston, a professor at Victoria University, believes there is a growing disconnect between generations over climate change.

'Unfortunately it is very often old white men, who are not very familiar with the big scientific issues, that dominate our councils.'

Boston said it is more important than ever that young people are elected to councils, which nation-wide have been slow to grasp the threat posed by climate change.

Young people are rightly concerned about their future and Boston urged councils to start listening to them or risk going head to head on the ballot.

Victoria University Wellington professor Amanda Thomas said activism was a growing gateway for young people to realise their political power.

She said events like the student strike for climate movement and protesting development at Ihumātao helped young people who were involved better understand of their ability to be politically powerful and affect change.

'Out of [the school strike for climate change] we've seen a bunch of young people who've put themselves forward to run for councils.'

Thomas said she expected more youth engagement with the local authorities in the coming years, especially on issues of decolonisation, housing, climate justice and social security issues.

The two Hutt Valley councils are examples of the challenge facing Yung and other young non-European candidates.

Despite significant populations of Chinese, Indians, Pasifika and South East Asians, people from those groups are not represented.

Upper Hutt has had two mayors - Wayne Guppy and Rex Kirton - since 1977 and there has only been one female mayor, Doris Nicholson.

In 127 years, Lower Hutt has never elected a female mayor.

Cr Margaret Cousins was first elected in 1983 and believes it is important to have people with an institutional memory.

Wellington Cty Cr David Lee was described as 'youth adjacent' at 48.

The 71-year-old defended the council's record on diversity and noted that it had elected one Pasifika candidate, one term councillor Ken Laban. In her time on council there had also been one Indian and one Chinese councillor.

Acting Hutt City Mayor David Bassett, who was elected in 2007, agreed that age diversity is 'critically important' but said councils also need people with a wide range of skills and community contacts.

Although experience helps, having an open mind and a willingness to work co-operatively are more important to being a good councillor.

Rather than look at a candidates age, voters should look at what a candidate had achieved and what skills he or she could provide, Bassett said.

Guppy, the Upper Hutt Mayor, also strong supports the call for diversity. 'It is essential, absolutely, that councils have to make sure we represent what modern New Zealand looks like.'

Wellington City councillor David Lee, 48, puts the lack of diversity on councils down to the pay and people becoming institutionalised, and not willing to move on.

He believes in fixed terms and is standing down after serving two terms. Lee would like the income earned by councillors reduced by $10,000 for every year they serve.

Researcher Jean Drage said often the cost of a campaign for office can outweigh what a someone would earn if they were elected.

Meetings often run all day long or at night, and only a few councils have started covering childcare costs.

'The whole system is in some sense really geared towards people who are retired or run their own business, or have another person who supports them financially,' she said.

For Yung, the big challenge is just getting elected. She believes that diversity around the council table will lead to a more robust debate and stronger communities and will be pushing that message hard.