Local Council results – weaponised apathy is the winner – democracy is the loser

12 Comments

1. At this point the privatisation of our election process is market failure. 40 years to prove the market can’t actually do it better. Who would have thought, oh wait, anyone who has read a history book.

2. Stale pale is the winner .People that did not vote can not complain about the out come .The sad thing is Maori did not step up and save the Maori wards or vote for Maori candidates .
   Another three years of kicking the can and going back in time .

3. If anyone received a ballot paper and didn’t use it to support maori wards or centre- left+ candidates then cry all you like because you get what other people voted for.
   If Brown won the mayoral chains in Auckland he has the mandate to do whatever the fuck he can persuade half the councilors to agree to.

   1. 100%

4. Look on the bright side Bomber, it shows that Maori have had nothing to do with destroying local government past, present and future. People can blame the state of their community or their rates bill on the non-Maori VICTORS!

5. I am friends with one young couple who for the last few weeks have been bitching about not receiving any voting papers and hence an inability to have a say.
   We found said voting papers sitting about 60mm down amongst a pile of damp, snail eaten local newspapers, junk mail flyers and other stuff in their mailbox yesterday afternoon.
   What state is it when you need to check other people’s mailboxs to motivate them to look at a voting paper?

   1. I have friends who tell me that they throw the letter straight into the rubbish bin. I guess they think that 1 person is not going to make a difference, but when thousands have that attitude, we end up getting stuck with the choices of the fanatical types who always vote.

6. Great post, thank you
   I did not vote for any candidate who said they would cut red tape.

   1. Good move.
      I added to that not voting for anybody who:
      – wanted to cap rates
      – complained about ‘wasteful spending’
      – wanted to end the ‘war’ on cars
      – claimed to have something called ‘business acumen’
      – wanted to focus on the ‘basics’
      – wanted to ‘fix [insert city/town name here]’
      – claimed to have ‘commonsense’

      Voting in local body elections is a precarious game of right-wing buzzword bingo that is far from foolproof.

7. Sleepy hobbits is the right term :/

8. I didn’t put myself out – didn’t vote. What’s the use. The people standing aren’t required to look down a set checklist that would indicate their attitudes, experience, capability. Maori Wards are right but still the warped ones have to try and clear them – it’s the fashion to be minimalist now, spacey and bare with lots of lounging room for the uppers and not much street stretch for the downers. The middle class live in a dream world most of them. It’s a mistake to have a month to vote in, gives too much time to ponder and despair.

   I have been involved in politics and social welfare for most of my adult life in some way. Helped get this and that and then see it turned so that its initial purpose is misdirected. Voting for something that is meaningless doesn’t have any greater effect good or bad than not voting. The old saying ‘don’t vote, it just encourages them’ gets a wry laugh. Not voting just affirms to the people in charge that the peeps have given up, but neither approach gets us a change to wise, practical and prudent people committed to their job of managing effectively.

   (And here I give an example of an UK revolt by a civil servant who was of great value to the British taxpayer, but his findings and successes led to exploitation by the neolibs and ghastly Thatcherites who didn’t have his values and commitment to serve the people and the nation .)
   Hansard https://api.parliament.uk › historic-hansard › written-answers › 1978 › may › 19 › mr-leslie-chapman
   Mr. Leslie Chapman (Hansard, 19 May 1978) – api.parliament.uk
   Mr. Chapman left the Civil Service on 31st December 1973. His book is written on the basis of his personal appreciation of events which took place some years ago.
   ******
   Rooke Books https://www.rookebooks.com › 1978-your-disobedient-servant
   1978 Your Disobedient Servant
   This piece and its sequel, Waste Away (1981), continue to have a powerful influence on advocates of privatisation, outsourcing and public sector reform. Written by Leslie Charles Chapman, a British civil servant and …
   *****
   Our managers and pollies can just go back to their computers and use us all as draught pieces on a board they irregularly redesign. And the noose gets tighter and conditions grow more unpleasant. The people who are sorted look at you with wondering eyes when you express distaste and despair. They have a list of excuses for the mess, and just choose a suitable one for the moment.

9. I’m pro Maori Ward but I’m not dissapointed by this result. We need to consider that in the years preceeding 2022 only 3 councils had gotten Maori Wards over the line. At this election we went back to the same system that gave us a mere 3 and now we have 20.

   Just like the Treaty Principles bill the racist right has put in their best attempt to take us backwards and instead all they’ve done is to provide clear evidence that there’s been a significant shift in attitudes in this country.

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