Mayor Jim Boult has confirmed that voting is now closed on a non-binding referendum to introduce a visitor levy for the
Queenstown Lakes District.
“I would like to personally thank everyone who has taken the time to engage with and participate in this process. The
final count is still underway and I am very much looking forward to seeing the result and sharing it with the
community,” Mayor Boult said.
The return as at midday today was approx. 38%. This does not include the large number of votes hand delivered today or
the special votes that have been made at Council offices and are yet to be counted. To put this into context a final
participation rate for a non-binding referendum of 30% is considered as a strong return.
QLDC chief executive Mike Theelen advised that an official result would be confirmed by elections.com by 10 June
“A large number of votes have come in, right up to the voting deadline. These are yet to be counted so we have made the
decision to complete a final count before confirming the result with the community,” Mr Theelen said.
Once a final result is available if it indicates strong support by the community, Mayor Boult will formally present the
outcome to central government and request a change in legislation. The timeline for this and details of the subsequent
work programme will be publicly available once confirmed.