EDITORIAL

Voter apathy shameful

Third time’s the trick it seems. On current voting Andy Foster, Wellington’s twice-failed mayoral candidate, is poised to oust the incumbent, Justin Lester, in the biggest upset of the local body elections.

It was a different story in Auckland; voters seemed to see through John Tamihere’s grandiose promises to fix the city, and gave Phil Goff a second term.

If nobody gave Foster a chance in Wellington previously, they were forced to sit up and take notice when Hollywood heavyweight Sir Peter Jackson threw his weight behind the former NZ First candidate.

Foster’s previous mayoral tilts in 2001 and 2016 ended with him coming fourth and fifth.

But this time he had some serious money behind his bid; voluntary disclosures before the campaign put the size of his war chest at $56,000, ahead of Lester who had raised just $11,000 at the same point.

Did that make the difference? When turnout is low, as it appears in Wellington, it’s hard not to assume it was Jackson’s celebrity status – and Foster’s financial backing – that turned the vote in his favour.

That may be more perception than reality; there had also been rumblings about Lester’s lack of urgency on many of the critical issues facing Wellington city.

But it’s no secret that Jackson took time out from his busy schedule to back Foster because he was disgruntled at the way the Wellington City Council handled a development at Shelly Bay. It should worry all of us when there is even a perception that we may be heading down a road where money - or celebrity makes the difference.

We only have ourselves to blame, of course. Apathy rules when it comes to local body politics.

Voter turnout nationally is thankfully - slightly up on previous years, but at 44 per cent it’s still nothing to celebrate. Councillors are often elected on the barest of votes; more than half of us just can’t be bothered, or think we don’t have the time to figure out who to vote for.

On those numbers, we may as well just hand a blank cheque to the relative unknowns who assume huge power over decisions affecting billions of dollars in assets, infrastructure and services in our name.

We can do so much better.