Is local government perfect?
It’s a very naïve question that Don Nicolson asks and clearly he does so just so that he can answer no.
People don’t expect perfection in their local councils but they do expect fair representation. They want to be able to choose who represents them and they don’t expect their right to vote to be taken off them.
Mr Nicolson is supportive of the dismissal of the Canterbury council and hints that if need be he’d support the same thing happening here in Southland. I hold the opposite view. I believe that when people vote for a representative, they expect their vote to be respected.
Mr Nicolson finishes by saying that turnouts to local body elections are ‘paltry’. In that at least he may be right.
The best way to ensure that lobby groups like Federated Farmers and Governments like the one that ended democratic elections in Canterbury don’t throw their weight around, is to vote and to encourage everyone you know to vote.
The elections are fast approaching.
2 comments:
Bit rich them expecting a good-faith relationship then.
Federated Farmers do seem to be intent of cementing the urban/rural divide into place.
Perhaps if they spent more time in the real world ...
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