Local elections: Going with the flow as Hawke’s Bay councils back FPP voting

Napier City Council Taradale ward member Graeme Taylor spoke against retaining FPP voting and supported a change to the STV system.

Napier City Council on Thursday completed a Hawke’s Bay clean sweep for a local elections status quo in the face of a local government review recommending a change to how people cast their votes.

It wasn’t unanimous, with three councillors speaking against at the council’s meeting, but the 12-member council supported the motion put by Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise that the council stick with the first-past-the-post (FPP) system, where electors vote for each desired candidate individually.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council supported the FPP system when it voted on Wednesday‚ as did the Wairoa, Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay councils when they voted earlier in August. Tararua District Council also decided in favour of retaining that voting system on Wednesday.

A review aiming to shape local government for the next 30 years and completed in June made 17 recommendations, including a call a change to Single Transferable Voting (STV), where electors rank candidates in order of preference, which supporters claim makes each vote count and can lead to greater diversity and a broader range of viewpoints.

Taradale ward councillor Graeme Taylor and Nelson Park ward member Maxine Boag each spoke against retaining FPP and supported a change.

Taylor, a councillor since 2010, asked why the Napier council had to follow Hastings and others, and said it was a chance for the council to lead, but Wise said voters understand FPP and change at present would cause confusion. Councillor Richard McGrath said STV was more suited to large numbers of people, such as 12 councillors with 25 candidates in comparison with, as an example, three candidates standing for two positions in a council ward.

The public has a right to call for polls on the decisions, but otherwise FPP will remain in use in Hawke’s Bay for the next local elections in 2025.

The Napier and Central Hawke’s Bay councils are now starting a process to decide how Māori wards are included in their areas in 2025.

The greatest change to voting in New Zealand, the referendum-driven arrival of MMP at the general election in 1993, introduced an election of about half of the MPs from party lists, where previously all had been electorate MPs.

Correction: A previous version of this story contained an error within the body of the story that said some councils had supported the “STV” (Single Transferable Vote) method. This reference was incorrect. All councils in Hawke’s Bay supported the retention of FPP.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues and personalities.