For many, democracy can feel remote, done behind closed doors in Parliament.
But it’s important to know that democracy begins right here, in our cities, our towns, our streets, even in our homes.
It’s my firmly held belief that politics should be accessible and inclusive, enabling participation so that people can be part of the collective choices that affect us all.
We see such democracy in action in the brilliant work done to reduce flood risk in South Dunedin, which has enabled community participation through the South Dunedin Future programme, a joint venture between the Otago Regional Council and the Dunedin City Council.
Or in the work to reduce Dunedin’s greenhouse gas emissions, by the Zero Carbon Alliance, a group of major organisations in Ōtepoti Dunedin including the Dunedin City Council and the Otago Regional Council.
These are glowing examples of collaborative decision-making, for the community, by the community.
As our co-leader Chloe Swarbrick said about our Green approach, decisions should always be "sustainable and enduring, because they are built and owned by the collective, not dictated down".
But Christopher Luxon’s government, far from supporting localism, has set its sights on undermining regional councils, including our own Otago Regional Council.
The government’s attacks on local decision-making are there for all to see.
Remember when the government used urgency to block the Otago Regional Council from passing its Land and Water Regional plan a year ago, after $18million had been spent to ensure local alignment on increasing freshwater environmental protections?
Or the blanket repeal of speed limit reductions on roads around schools and rest-homes?
Now, the government has announced an intention to abolish the (just elected) regional councillors, with Shane Jones labelling the Otago Regional Council a "Kremlin-like institution".
From breaking the promise for our southern hospital and fast-tracking consents for hard-rock gold mining at Macraes (the MP4 expansion plan) and Bendigo (by Santana Minerals) to seeking to destroy the Denniston Plateau for coal, this government is denying and denigrating local decision-making.
In Aotearoa — and certainly in Ōtepoti Dunedin — we have had a long-held social agreement that local people get to decide what happens in our local communities and environment.
It was 35,000 of us who marched in 2024 to oppose the government’s plans to further downgrade our new southern hospital after all their broken promises.
This government underestimates us and insults us, but their time is limited.
As Bob Dylan sang, "the times they are a-changin" and together we will be the collective authors of the change to come at the ballot box.
