Ratepayers' Alliance slams Auckland carve-out for unelected members

The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has slammed the Government for exempting the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) from a law change to ban unelected members from voting on council decisions.

Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:

"This morning on Newstalk ZB, Simon Watts said, quite rightly, that it is wrong for unelected members to have voting rights. So why should Auckland's local democracy be the exception?"

"The IMSB is a textbook example of unelected appointees voting alongside elected members on key council decisions, as we saw last week with the Budget Committee vote on Wayne Brown's record high rates increase."

"There is no reasonable justification for exempting Auckland from the law change. This just goes to show how little regard the Government has for local democracy in our largest city."

"If it’s not democratic for Hastings and Tauranga, it’s not democratic for Auckland."