I dare you to name one local councillor… bet you can’t.
If you’re young and live in Aotearoa, chances are you probably don’t know much about local government and it’s likely not your fault. The last reform into the way local government works was over 30 years ago and it wasn’t exactly built with young people in mind. It’s about time something changed and this time you get a say! Get Vocal in Your Local is a new tool designed to hear the voices of rangatahi in the reshaping of local democracy, commissioned by the Review into the Future for Local Government. The design was done by Massey University’s Toi Āria, digital company Effect and illustrated by yours truly.
Believe it or not the decisions made by your local government probably affect your day-to-day life much more than anything Jacinda is doing. Local government is responsible for everything, from protecting the fish swimming in your favourite river to maintaining the skate park you go to impress your friends with a mediocre ollie. If you care about your local place then you might be interested in shaping its future.
With Get Vocal in Your Local, you don’t have to know anything about local government to have your say. All you need to do to get started is to pick a place in Aotearoa that is important to you, then answer a few questions that explore some of the big issues the Review is considering. These are things like who gets to have a say in decision-making, which voices matter, and whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 or not.
The Review into the Future for Local Government is a two-year-long project put together by the Minister of Local Government, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta. It looks into how our local systems of democracy need to change to better serve all of the diverse communities in Aotearoa. Government reviews like these are often very good at getting input from adults and already politically active people and organisations, but there's one voice that is usually left out — yours.
Rangatahi are the future of this country and are currently pretty invisible in local democracy. Traditionally only about 35 per cent of 18-24-year-olds vote in local elections. That’s a huge number of people whose voices aren’t being heard. Young people are also among the least represented groups in our current system of local governance. The average age of elected members is currently between 56 and 60. Clearly, something has to change. That’s why Get Vocal in Your Local is so important. It’s an interactive tool designed to get the input of young people across the whole country on how they think local government should work in the future.
The tool was designed alongside input from rangatahi around the country. It takes about five minutes to complete and guides you through a set of questions. The questions are asked in a fun and gamified way so you’ll be entertained while also getting involved in local democracy. Once you’ve made it to the end you can send your personalised submission straight to the review panel and if you're nosey like me check out how your answers stack up against the rest of the participants.
Get involved here: getvocalinyourlocal.govt.nz
