LGNZ welcomes decision to restore casting vote
25 June 2004
Local Government New Zealand thanks the Minister of Local Government, Hon Chris Carter, for persuading his colleagues
to agree to restore the right of mayors and council chairs to use a casting vote.
“We are very pleased the Government has listened to local body concerns and restored the provision of a casting vote to
break council deadlocks which was lost in the Local Government Act 2002,” said Local Government New Zealand’s President
Basil Morrison.
The Select Committee considering amendments to the Act previously recommended only a partial restoration of the casting
vote, proposing it be restricted to circumstances where a council had a legal obligation to make a decision by a certain
date.
“In practical terms any mayor would have been very reluctant to use a casting vote in that situation without prior legal
advice as to whether the vote would break the law. As our legal advisors indicated, the main beneficiaries of this
approach would have been lawyers!
“Mayors and council chairs are accountable to their communities for how they exercise their casting vote and must ensure
they exercise it responsibly and with full regard to its significance,” he said.
ENDS