1989 New Zealand local government reforms

Last updated

Map of territorial authorities after the 2010 Auckland Council amalgamation. Cities are in uppercase, others are districts. Regions are indicated with colours. NZ Regional Councils and Territorial Authorities 2017.svg
Map of territorial authorities after the 2010 Auckland Council amalgamation. Cities are in uppercase, others are districts. Regions are indicated with colours.

The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of local government in New Zealand in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, on regional and territorial levels. The new authorities were established on 1 November, following the election of members on 14 October 1989.

Contents

Background

The previous major local government reform was the replacement of provincial government with elected borough and county councils at the end of 1876. The Counties Act 1876 created 63 counties out of the rural parts of the provinces. [1]

Over subsequent decades, many new bodies were set up, some of them multi-purpose, and others single-purpose, [2] such as harbour boards. The Local Government Act 1974 consolidated the law relating to territorial local authorities, removing the distinction between urban authorities (boroughs and towns) and rural authorities (counties). It enabled the establishment of regional councils, but these were not established until the 1989 reform. [2]

History

The Labour Party had reform of local government as one of its policies for the 1984 election, but did not give much detail; the proposals were developed during the first term of the Fourth Labour Government after the party won the election. [2] Michael Bassett was Minister of Local Government and appointed a Local Government Commission, [2] which was chaired by Brian Elwood from 1 April 1985 to 1 November 1992. [3] [4] The government gave the commission a guarantee that their findings would be treated as binding. [4] The resulting local government reform was undertaken along the lines of marketisation, and was done in conjunction with neoliberal economic reforms known as Rogernomics. [2] Some 850 entities were amalgamated into 86 local authorities on regional and territorial levels. [2] Of the 850 entities, 249 were municipalities, [5] and the remainder harbour boards, catchment boards, and drainage boards. The new authorities came into being on 1 November 1989, with the local politicians having been elected on 14 October. [6] Brian Rudman, a journalist and editorial writer for The New Zealand Herald , called the reforms "revolutionary". [4]

Results of the reform

Regional authorities

New Zealand was divided into 14 regions, of which 13 were regional authorities, and the remaining one, Gisborne, was a unitary authority. Unitary authorities in New Zealand are district (or city) authorities that also fulfil the function of a regional authority. [7]

RegionRegional councilCouncil seatIsland
Unitary authorities
1 Gisborne Gisborne District Council Gisborne North
Regional authorities
1 Northland Northland Regional Council Whangārei North
2 Auckland Auckland Regional Council Auckland North
3 Waikato Waikato Regional Council Hamilton North
4 Bay of Plenty Bay of Plenty Regional Council Whakatane North
5 Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay Regional Council Napier North
6 Taranaki Taranaki Regional Council Stratford North
7 Manawatū-Whanganui Horizons Regional Council Palmerston North North
8 Wellington Greater Wellington Regional Council Wellington North
9Nelson-Marlborough Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council Blenheim South
10 West Coast West Coast Regional Council Greymouth South
11 Canterbury Canterbury Regional Council Christchurch South
12 Otago Otago Regional Council Dunedin South
13 Southland Southland Regional Council Invercargill South

Territorial authorities

At a territorial level, district and city authorities were created. The area of a district may belong to more than one regional authority.

NameSeat Region(s) Island
1 Far North District Kaikohe Northland North
2 Whangarei District Whangārei NorthlandNorth
3 Kaipara District Dargaville NorthlandNorth
4 Rodney District Orewa Auckland North
5 Auckland City AucklandAucklandNorth
6 North Shore City TakapunaAucklandNorth
7 Waitakere City HendersonAucklandNorth
8 Manukau City ManukauAucklandNorth
9 Papakura District PapakuraAucklandNorth
10 Franklin District Pukekohe Waikato (60.18%)
Auckland (39.82%)
North
11 Thames-Coromandel District Thames WaikatoNorth
12 Hauraki District Paeroa WaikatoNorth
13 Waikato District Ngāruawāhia WaikatoNorth
14 Matamata-Piako District Te Aroha WaikatoNorth
15 Hamilton City HamiltonWaikatoNorth
16 Waipa District Te Awamutu WaikatoNorth
17 South Waikato District Tokoroa WaikatoNorth
18 Otorohanga District OtorohangaWaikatoNorth
19 Waitomo District Te Kūiti Waikato (94.87%)
Manawatū-Whanganui (5.13%)
North
20 Taupō District Taupō Waikato (73.74%)
Bay of Plenty (14.31%)
Hawke's Bay (11.26%)
Manawatū-Whanganui (0.69%)
North
21 Western Bay of Plenty District Greerton, Tauranga CityBay of PlentyNorth
22 Tauranga District Tauranga Bay of PlentyNorth
23 Opotiki District OpotikiBay of PlentyNorth
24 Whakatane District WhakataneBay of PlentyNorth
25 Rotorua District RotoruaBay of Plenty (61.52%)
Waikato (38.48%)
North
26 Kawerau District KawerauBay of PlentyNorth
27 Gisborne District Gisborne Gisborne (unitary authority)North
28 Wairoa District WairoaHawke's BayNorth
29 Hastings District HastingsHawke's BayNorth
30 Napier City NapierHawke's BayNorth
31 Central Hawke's Bay District Waipawa Hawke's BayNorth
32 New Plymouth District New Plymouth Taranaki North
33 Stratford District StratfordTaranaki (68.13%)
Manawatū-Whanganui (31.87%)
North
34 South Taranaki District Hawera TaranakiNorth
35 Ruapehu District Taumarunui Manawatū-WhanganuiNorth
36 Rangitikei District Marton Manawatū-Whanganui (86.37%)
Hawke's Bay (13.63%)
North
37 Wanganui District Wanganui Manawatū-WhanganuiNorth
38 Manawatū District Feilding Manawatū-WhanganuiNorth
39 Palmerston North City Palmerston NorthManawatū-WhanganuiNorth
40 Tararua District Dannevirke Manawatū-Whanganui (98.42%)
Wellington (1.58%)
North
41 Horowhenua District Levin Manawatū-WhanganuiNorth
42 Masterton District MastertonWellingtonNorth
43 Kāpiti Coast District Paraparaumu WellingtonNorth
44 Carterton District CartertonWellingtonNorth
45 South Wairarapa District Martinborough WellingtonNorth
46 Upper Hutt City Upper HuttWellingtonNorth
47 Porirua City PoriruaWellingtonNorth
48 Hutt City Lower HuttWellingtonNorth
49 Wellington City WellingtonWellingtonNorth
50 Tasman District Richmond Nelson-Marlborough South
51 Nelson City Nelson Nelson-MarlboroughSouth
52 Marlborough District Blenheim Nelson-MarlboroughSouth
53 Kaikoura District KaikouraNelson-MarlboroughSouth
54 Buller District Westport West Coast South
55 Grey District Greymouth West CoastSouth
56 Westland District Hokitika West CoastSouth
57 Hurunui District Amberley Canterbury South
58 Selwyn District Rolleston CanterburySouth
59 Waimakariri District Rangiora CanterburySouth
60 Christchurch City Christchurch CanterburySouth
61 Banks Peninsula Lyttelton CanterburySouth
62 Ashburton District AshburtonCanterburySouth
63 Mackenzie District FairlieCanterburySouth
64 Timaru District TimaruCanterburySouth
65 Waimate District WaimateCanterburySouth
66 Waitaki District Oamaru Canterbury (59.61%)
Otago (40.39%)
South
67 Queenstown-Lakes District Queenstown OtagoSouth
68 Central Otago District Alexandra OtagoSouth
69 Dunedin City DunedinOtagoSouth
70 Clutha District Balclutha OtagoSouth
71 Southland District Invercargill Southland South
72 Gore District GoreSouthlandSouth
73 Invercargill City InvercargillSouthlandSouth

References

  1. McKinnon, Malcolm (13 July 2012). "Colonial and provincial government – Julius Vogel and the abolition of provincial government". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Derby, Mark (13 July 2012). "Local and regional government – Reforming local government". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. "Commission Members since 1947". Local Government Commission. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Rudman, Brian (15 August 2007). "Sir Brian Elwood struck the right note with big reforms of 1989". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  5. Sancton, Andrew (2000). Merger Mania. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 84. ISBN   0773521631 . Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  6. Forrester, Kay (31 October 1989). "Reform leads to end of era in local government". The Press via Papers Past.
  7. "Unitary authority". Nelson City Council. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2015.