Local politicians to get home security allowance after ‘significant increase in abuse’

The allowance, currently offered to MPs, would see local government politicians get $4500 to install home security systems plus $1000 for annual maintenance. Photo / Michael Craig

Local government politicians will soon be able to claim up to $4500 to install security systems in their homes, following what Local Government New Zealand has called a “significant increase in abuse, harassment and threatening behaviour”.

The new rules set out by the Remuneration Authority will allow for the one-off allowance to elected members plus $1000 for annual maintenance, if councils vote for it.

“Now it’s up to the council to decide whether they’re going to do it or not, it’s not a requirement,” Remuneration Authority chair Geoffrey Summers said.

It would be ratepayer-funded through the individual local authorities, he said.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said more protection for elected members is something they have been advocating for.

“The rise of fringe groups, anonymity of online forums and polarising coverage is feeding increasing abuse of people elected to both central and local government. As well as online threats, elected members have been physically threatened or confronted,” Freeman-Greene said.

The allowance, currently offered to MPs, would see local government politicians get $4500 to install home security systems and another $1000 for annual maintenance. Photo / Michael Craig

Central Otago Mayor Tamah Alley told the Herald it is a “great win for local government members representing their communities”, saying it is a way to combat a rising number of concerning incidents targeting local government politicians.

Alley, a former police officer, said there is a unique risk in being a politician in a rural community, as “everybody knows where you live”.

“That’s not always the same in the city, you can have a bit of anonymity, but down here it’s not hard to ask around and find out where our elected members are and who their family are and when they’re home,” she said.

Last year, former Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese was confronted by an intruder who broke into her house with a nail gun.

“I was so shocked, he was screaming and ranting at me, and I just thought, ‘I have to protect myself’,” Reese told the Herald at the time.

Former Nelson mayor Rachel Reese, who had a frightening encounter with an intruder in her home. Photo / Tracy Neal

“Given the job I did, I was the subject of threats and abuse but coming home was my salvation – it was my haven,” she said at the time.

Reese said it highlighted the need for better support for elected members.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau, who earlier this year bowed out of the mayoral race, has said one of the reasons she decided not to run again is the “horrific abuse” she has faced in the role.

Female Wellington City councillors last term revealed they have carried personal security devices, had their homes checked by council staff, and felt they needed to look over their shoulders after receiving threatening messages.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell has previously shared some of the profanity-laden online abuse she has received over a sewerage pipe near a sacred lake.

Tapsell recently took to social media to share that someone had smashed the rear windscreen of her car.

“So to the lovely person who chose to smash the window of my car, parked in my driveway at home while my family and I slept, I have no doubt you’ll be held to account too”, the post said.

In April, Dot Jones, the wife of Cabinet minister Shane Jones, said she was grabbed on the shoulder at Auckland Airport by a man who had shouted angry slurs at her husband.

A 2022 survey of elected members found 43% said they had experienced harassment, prejudice, threatening or derogatory behaviours in their role.

Half had experienced harassment while working in the community, while a third said abuse occurred while they had been shopping or collecting children from school.

The allowance is currently offered to MPs and will be an option for councils following October’s local government elections.

Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. Ethan can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.