While these may not set pulses racing, local government is important — shaping our daily lives and the future.
Voter apathy and confusion contribute to poor turnout. Nationally, only 42% of voters cast their ballots.
By contrast, turnout at the last general election was 78.2% of enrolled voters.
If anything is likely to drive higher participation this time, it is soaring rates and debt increases, many of them tied to Three Waters.
Candidates in both district and regional council elections promise to curb increases. Some talk of cutting "non-essentials".
But what counts as essential is in the eye of the beholder.
Cuts are proposed in one area, while spending is defended in another, deemed a priority.
General promises of "efficiencies" only go so far. Smaller councils have already run tight ships. While AI might assist with consolidating roles, any serious bid to rein in rates will demand ruthless and unpopular measures.
Are ratepayers willing to accept shorter library hours, reduced grass mowing, lower botanic garden budgets, or higher pool and user fees? Meaningful savings will only come through a mix of greater efficiency, fewer staff, and cutting tasks altogether.
Is that what we really want?
There are also possible changes beyond councillors’ control: revenue-sharing with central government, bed taxes, the abolition of regional councils, and fewer costs pushed down from Wellington. But none can be relied on or are likely.
Many voters also fail to grasp that councillors are meant to stick to governance. It is the chief executive and staff who are responsible for handling the nitty-gritty of operations.
Postal voting is becoming harder as mail services decline, and many younger people don’t even have letterboxes. In some regions, the lack of traditional media coverage is lamented, though less of an issue in Otago and Southland.
Let’s see if districts around the South can improve on 2022 tallies: Queenstown Lakes 44.5%, Central Otago 48.1%, Southland District 49.7%, Dunedin 49.9%, Waitaki 51%, Clutha 53.1%, Invercargill 53.2% and Gore 53.4%.
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Civis has previously lamented that "America" and "Americans" usually refer only to one part of the Americas, the United States.
Another entrenched but misleading geographic label is the "Middle East." In reality, it lies west of a majority of the world’s population, including New Zealand.
Exceptional World View columnist Gwynne Dyer made this point recently in an ODT opinion page piece, noting that from an Indian perspective, the region is Southwest Asia.
Of course, the Middle East began as a British and Eurocentric concept. The "Near East", meaning across to the Balkans, has now all but vanished.
The Far East — Japan, the Koreas and China — lingers but only just. It’s hardly "far" to those who live there. You might find Far East in travel cliches.
The West Indies, once synonymous with an all-conquering cricket team, still has some life in it. Christopher Columbus, sailing the ocean blue in 1492, thought he had reached Asia. Instead, he landed in the Caribbean.
And what should we make of Australia and New Zealand being counted as part of "the West"?
These days, the "West" usually also includes the US, Canada and Western Europe. Sometimes Japan and South Korea are partly folded in as "Western-aligned", despite their different cultural origins.
"The West" is less a geographical concept than a cultural-political one: Democracy, capitalism, and historically Christian/European heritage.
What about Australasia to encompass both Australia and New Zealand?
Is Australia its own continent? Or part of Oceania? Or Asia-Pacific?
Where does New Zealand fit? It all depends on who’s drawing the map.
Are there other ambiguities or glaring naming oddities?
