Abuse of councillors prompts concern for election. Photo / File
The amount of abuse local elected officials have received in recent years has sparked concern some are seriously considering stepping away from public office while others have already made plans to.
Last week, Local Government New Zealand released findings of a survey revealing 49.5 per cent of 105 respondents experienced racism or gender discrimination in their councillor or mayoral role. Another 43 per cent experienced harassment, prejudice, threatening or derogatory behaviour in their role.
The group was now creating a new code of conduct, refreshing an induction programme for successful candidates and launching a clean campaigning guide developed in partnership with the Human Rights Commission.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council councillor Stacey Rose said the survey findings were a "sad reality".
Rose, elected at 19 and becoming the council's youngest ever councillor, announced late last year he would not seek reelection in this year's elections due to abuse he said he received. Much of this was ageism, he claimed.
While an investigation found no evidence of abuse coming from within the council itself, it acknowledged the abuse that came from the wider community.
Rose said diversity in all of its shapes was essential to the local government actually representing the spectrum of its community but being different was too often the target of the vitriol, he said.
"Being younger, I brought a different perspective to the council and one that I think the Bay of Plenty Regional Council needed at that time," Rose said.
"I think for local government, [diversity] is essential. If you're on a council and you're all voting yes for something without a debate, I think that's a problem. Debate is healthy for councils and as local government, we need to ensure we are representing the views that are out there in the community."
Rose hoped would-be candidates for October's local body elections year were clear about what they were getting into but also not put off.
Tauranga woman Kat Macmillan was running for a seat on the regional council. While she had not received any abuse, yet, "I have received a lot of 'golly, you're brave', and 'good on you because some people won't like you being there for the very fact you're a woman'," she said.
"A number of people have said that to me, not just from the Bay of Plenty but from all over. They say 'it's going to be hard for you'."
However, Macmillan said this was even more reason that young people, Māori, and gender-diverse people - if they had the experience and knowledge - should stand for council.
The survey's findings were "pretty alarming" and "not okay", Macmillan said.
While any councillor needed to be resilient, elected members were still human. There needed to be a culture shift, which would only happen with greater diversity, she said.
At Rotorua Lakes Council, councillor Fisher Wang said he seriously considered not running for council again this year after experiencing regular tirades targeting his young age or Asian descent.
Wang, like Rose, was just 19 when elected in 2019. He became Rotorua council's youngest ever elected member.
"When you experience it in person when that happens, it's hard to evade. It's almost as if you are forced to grow a bit of a thick skin against it but even then, it still gets to you sometimes."
Wang said the "current political climate ... it almost feels more hostile".
Wang was part of a young elected members committee, comprising of New Zealand councillors aged under 40. They made up just 13 per cent of all elected members in councils across the country and "quite a few aren't standing again", he said.
"Unfortunately, we are losing really good people as a result of this."
Fellow Rotorua councillor Mercia Yates said she had been yelled at and heckled "for speaking Māori" in karakia or prayer, or for pronouncing words correctly.
Abuse also extended to local MPs such as Tauranga-based Labour list MP and Cabinet minister Jan Tinetti who said such abuse, either online or in person, was "always upsetting".
Within the past year, Tinetti's Cameron Rd office was targeted with white supremacist flyers and graffiti. She has also previously spoken of the misogynistic abuse many women faced and how this was an indictment on society.
"Gendered abuse became truly apparent to me when I entered politics. What some people might see as trivial can be hurtful, whether it be being told that my voice is 'shrill' to comments on what I'm wearing."
Tinetti also experienced more severe and targeted abuse but chose not to talk openly about the details of these "as I don't want to glorify that kind of behaviour".
Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said that over his eight years as MP he had received abuse "some of which quite toxic" on Facebook.
" ... The language that some people use and level of vitriol that people feel they can write online I find disturbing."
Muller was "worried" the 2023 general election would create a high water mark for online abuse of New Zealand politicians "because I sense communities across New Zealand are highly agitated and we will be seen as an easy outlet for the anger, especially online".
Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby said in order to make a change, it was important to acknowledge there was a problem and find ways to address it.
"We need our councils to reflect the diversity in our communities and this type of behaviour puts the progress we've begun to make at risk," Crosby, a former Tauranga mayor, said.
Despite there being a "small uptick" in the number of Māori, women and young elected members around council tables, the survey results made for "tough reading".
Local Government New Zealand chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said she was already concerned about "some of the behaviour and rhetoric" in this year's election.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a conference last week it was "abhorrent" that some people representing their communities were facing violence and the local electoral environment was becoming dangerous.
Ardern said the requirement of elected representatives to be available had, in recent times, "become more challenging". She was concerned the impact of this could result in losing mayors and councillors.
Changing the election requirement for residential addresses on campaign advertising was part of helping better protect elected members, Ardern said.
A total of 105 anonymous survey respondents were received from 56 local authorities. Their findings include:
- 49.5 per cent of respondents experienced racism or gender discrimination in their role
- 43 per cent of respondents experienced other harassment, prejudice, threatening or derogatory behaviours in their role
- Close to a quarter of respondents are not sure how to report instances of harassment and/or discrimination
- Less than a third of respondents felt connected with other elected members in their workplace
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