We need to elect councils that are willing to stand up for changes that are good for both people and healthy environments. Photo / 123rf
We need to elect councils that are willing to stand up for changes that are good for both people and healthy environments. Photo / 123rf
OPINION
Council decisions shape our lives and our health. That makes your vote in local elections an important health action.
City and regional council decisions make a huge difference to whether we have safe drinking water, clean air to breathe, can enjoy leisure activities at the local park or beach,and can safely, easily and affordably get to the places we need to go.
Councils can also help ensure these building blocks of health are fairly distributed for everyone. The collective rates we pay are an important investment in community health and fairness.
The 2022 local body elections are even more important than usual for health. All councils around the country have a large in-tray of important issues to deal with. Things like climate change adaptation, transport funding, whether and how to densify cities, and investment in water and sewage infrastructure. Most of these decisions will impact on our health in the short and long term.
We all need to make sure we elect people to councils who are willing to make changes that are good for both people and healthy environments.
One of the most important actions councils can take to improve health and fairness is to invest in better public transport, walking and cycling. Doing so will provide immediate benefits for population health by reducing depression and anxiety, reducing asthma and hospital admissions for heart and lung disease and increasing sense of community. It will also reduce healthcare costs and help us keep pressure off our hospitals, which are still under massive pressure from Covid-19.
In the next three years, our councils will need to make transformative changes in direction to ensure we are well prepared for climate change, our most-pressing public health issue.
They are already having to make and implement decisions about reducing our climate pollution and adapting our cities to climate change effects we've built in through collective inaction.
Climate change will cause deaths and illnesses directly through heatwaves and severe weather, and also intensify the health and other problems we're already seeing with water quality and the price of food, housing and transport.
Difficult land-use decisions will need to be made, to ensure our housing is resilient to flooding and sea-level rise, and so our children can grow up in affordable, healthy homes. Planning will be needed to shape local, resilient and climate-friendly food and energy systems that address poverty.
And major changes to freshwater management are also needed, to ensure we can continue to have clean drinking water, and safe fish and shellfish.
These issues will play out at city and regional levels, while well-designed cities can play a huge part in protecting us from the health and other impacts of climate change.
This is an exciting opportunity for us - cities that take proactive climate action are likely to be healthier and more liveable with green spaces, shade, trees and safe spaces for people to move around by walking and wheeling.
University of Auckland associate professor Rhys Jones. Photo / Supplied
To ensure these changes are effective and address health and social injustices, they need to be grounded in Māori knowledge and value systems. Changes need to benefit everyone, contribute to redressing breaches of te Tiriti, and avoid creating further injustices.
The only way to ensure that occurs is through real power sharing and partnership with iwi and hapū.
Sometimes, the people standing for regional and local councils are so unfamiliar that decisions can be overwhelming. But, as in many other places, there are clear choices in Tāmaki Makaurau – we are fortunate to have standout candidates who are putting health, fairness and climate action at the centre of their policies and commitments. These candidates have the courage to make the tough decisions – decisions that will fundamentally change our cities and regions, but are necessary to create healthier and fairer communities now and into the future. They deserve our votes.
It's crucial that all voices are heard in these local elections, so look out for the candidates who are following good evidence and committing to policies that will improve and protect health, especially by acting on climate change.
Make your vote count by October 8.
• Rhys Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a Public Health Physician and Associate Professor in Māori Health at Waipapa Taumata Rau / The University of Auckland
