The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of

local government in New Zealand New Zealand has a unitary system of government in which the authority of the central government defines sub-national entities. Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by the New Zealand Parliament. Under the Loca ...

in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, on

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

levels. The new authorities were established on 1 November, following the election of members on 14 October 1989.

Background

The previous major local government reform was the replacement of provincial government with elected borough and county councils at the end of 1876. The Counties Act 1876 created 63 counties out of the rural parts of the provinces. Over subsequent decades, many new bodies were set up, some of them multi-purpose, and others single-purpose, such as harbour boards. The Local Government Act 1974 consolidated the law relating to territorial local authorities, removing the distinction between urban authorities (boroughs and towns) and rural authorities (counties). It enabled the establishment of regional councils, but these were not established until the 1989 reform.

History

The Labour Party had reform of local government as one of its policies for the , but did not give much detail; the proposals were developed during the first term of the

Fourth Labour Government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990 (the period up to 8 August 1989 is also called the Lange Government). It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term si ...

after the party won the election.

Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and h ...

was Minister of Local Government and appointed a Local Government Commission, which was chaired by Brian Elwood from 1 April 1985 to 1 November 1992. The government gave the commission a guarantee that their findings would be treated as binding. The resulting local government reform was undertaken along the lines of marketisation, and was done in conjunction with neoliberal economic reforms known as

Rogernomics Rogernomics (a portmanteau of ''Roger'' and ''economics'' modelled on Reaganomics) were the neoliberal economic reforms promoted by Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance between 1984 and 1988 in the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealan ...

. Some 850 entities were amalgamated into 86 local authorities on regional and territorial levels. Of the 850 entities, 249 were municipalities, and the remainder harbour boards, catchment boards, and drainage boards. The new authorities came into being on 1 November 1989, with the local politicians having been elected on 14 October.

Brian Rudman Brian C. Rudman is a columnist and regular editorial contributor to ''The New Zealand Herald'', New Zealand's largest daily newspaper. He has his own column, 'Rudman's City', where he mainly focuses on issues relating to Auckland (New Zealand's l ...

, a journalist and editorial writer for ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'', called the reforms "revolutionary".

Results of the reform

Regional authorities

New Zealand was divided into 14 regions, of which 13 were regional authorities, and the remaining one, Gisborne, was a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. Unitary authorities in New Zealand are district (or city) authorities that also fulfil the function of a regional authority.

Territorial authorities

At a territorial level, district and city authorities were created. The area of a district may belong to more than one regional authority.

References

{{Reflist History of local government in New Zealand Territorial authorities of New Zealand Local government reforms Mergers of administrative divisions