Heritage et AL

The Danger of Interesting Times Voter turnout for the Auckland 2025 local body elections indicated that interest in local governance is at an all-time low. The region received the lowest turnout in the country of only 29.3%. This disinterest seems to stem from the fact that local governance is a fairly dull task, which can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, high voter turnout is important for a functioning democracy. On the other, the reason local government is seen as boring could be that it functions well, so it can remain in the background. One only has to look back to the mostly forgotten and tumultuous colonial history of Auckland’s early local government in the 1850s and 60s to see why a ‘boring’ council is far preferable to an ‘interesting’ one. A permanent, municipal council for Auckland was established in 1871, but only after two decades of effort and four failed iterations. The first two attempts, the Auckland Borough Council (1851-1852) and the first Auckland City Council...

The 19th September marks Suffrage Day in NZ . This year's anniversary is extra special, since it marks 120 years since Kiwi women won the right to vote in national parliamentary elections in 1893. The Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed the landmark legislation, which made the new Electoral Act into law. In doing so, NZ became the first self governing country in the world to give women this right. Ref: 7-A12543, A cartoon by Ashley Hunter on Women's Vote, 30 Sept 1893, Sir George Grey Special Collections Also of importance during 1893, was the election of the first female mayor in the British Empire. Elizabeth Yates became the Mayor of Onehunga Borough Council in 1893 and served until 1894. She also was a councilor from 1899 - 1901. Despite the sexism Elizabeth endured her time as mayor, she made a huge impact - reduced the debt of the council, kept the streets and footpaths maintained and made an impression on Parliament when lobbying for the Onehunga Cemetery Bill. Ref...