Labour will abolish ratepayer roll, axing extra votes of landlords, holiday home owners

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Labour will move to a “one person, one vote” rule in local body elections, “ending the rule that allows some people to vote in more than one council area”, if elected.

Currently, voters can cast votes in multiple local authorities if they own property there, however they can only vote once in each local authority.

The issue has been a controversial one because it means some people can vote in several elections in different councils – although they can only cast one vote per council.

But parties have resisted abolishing the rule because of the view that property owners have a right to a vote on the councils that charge rates on their properties. The counter-argument is that in areas with a large number of holiday homes, non-resident owners’ voices can tilt the balance of power from residents.

Under a one person, one vote regime, rentals and holiday homes would still pay rates, but the owners would not necessarily be able to vote for the councils that set those rates.

Hipkins affirmed the policy in a speech on democracy to the Law Association. Labour MP Greg O’Connor introduced a member’s bill on the policy in 2024 but it was not drawn.

Hipkins also promised to restore election-day enrolment, something the coalition Government abolished, and said 16- and 17-year-olds would be given the right to vote in local elections.

Hipkins announced other reforms, promising third-party campaigners in local and national elections would be required to disclose donations on the same terms as political parties.

People should be able to participate and they should be able to see who is funding efforts to influence their vote.

Hipkins promised to reform lobbying, echoing a “bottom line” recently announced by the Opportunity Party.

“People deserve to know who is influencing decisions. They deserve a chance to be heard before laws are passed.

“And they deserve access to the information they need to hold ministers accountable.

“Those rights belong to people, whether they voted for the Government or against it.

“When we change the rules for an industry, people should be able to see whose advice we took and why.

“When we change a public service, the people who rely on it should have a chance to be heard.”

Hipkins promised to “shut the revolving door between ministerial office and paid lobbying” by introducing a stand-down period between being a minister and taking up a lobbying job.

“People and organisations have every right to make their case to government. The question is whether the public can see who is being paid to influence decisions, and whose interests they represent,” he said.

Hipkins promised a “mandatory code of conduct for paid lobbyists and a public register showing who they are and who is paying them”.

Hipkins promised to limit the use of urgency, which has been a feature of the current term of Parliament.

Cross-party changes to Parliament’s rules, including a new legislative scrutiny committee, will make this easier.

“Labour will restrict urgency to genuine emergencies, fixing urgent errors in the law, Budgets and implementing a 100-day plan where policies have been clearly signposted before the election,” Hipkins said.

“Every law passed under urgency will also automatically go back to a select committee within six months, so the scrutiny that was missed actually happens.

“Governments of both stripes have used urgency too much, including Labour. That’s why we need to change the rules.”

Hipkins also promised to modernise the Official Information Act.

“We will codify proactive releases, including ministers’ diaries, and create an effective penalties regime for breaches of the act.

“People should be able to see who ministers are meeting and understand how decisions are being made.

“Journalists need that information to test what ministers tell them. Communities need it to challenge decisions that affect them. And the public needs it to judge whether government is doing what it promised.

“Transparency is not a favour ministers grant when it suits them. It is part of being accountable to the public.”