Legislative Reviews › Local Government Act 2002

The Local Government Act 2002 was given royal assent on 24 December 2002. On this page you can find information about:

• Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2010
• Local Government Act 2002
• Local Government Related Acts 2006
• Local Government Related Acts 2004
• Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002

Further Information

• Local Government Transparency, Accountability and Financial Management Information about the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act, including a Decisions Document and related Cabinet papers (November 2010)

• Independent review of Environment Canterbury (February 2010)

Auckland governance:

• Auckland Council reforms enter final phase The Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill has been reported back to Parliament by the Auckland Governance Legislation Committee (24/05/2010)

• Proposals for Wards, Local Boards and Boundaries for Auckland (November 2009) (Local Government Commission website) The Local Government Commission has released its proposals on the boundaries and representation arrangements for the new Auckland Council. The Commission is seeking feedback on its proposals and inviting suggestions that will improve the proposed arrangements by 11 December 2009.

• Government Decisions in Response to the Royal Commision on Auckland Governance - Cabinet Papers (Includes 'Water Issues' - released 5 November 2009)

Long-term council community plans:

• Briefing to the Minister of Local Government on trends from final 2009/19 long-term council community plans (.pdf) 136k
  This briefing outlines major trends in forecast financial information and observations made by the Department from the final 2009/19 long-term plans. The report provides a short analysis of the change between draft and final LTCCPs for the local government sector. It also includes summary information on potential capital and operating expenditure, income and use of debt for the local government sector as a whole. The summary information for this briefing was taken from the report Observation and trends from 2009 LTCCPS (.pdf) 478k (on the Local Councils website). See also: Minister's media release 23/10/2009 (Beehive website).
• Briefing to the Minister of Local Government on trends from draft 2009/19 long-term council community plans (.pdf) 195k

  This briefing outlines major trends in forecast financial information and observations made by the Department from the draft 2009/19 long-term plans. It includes summary information on potential capital and operating expenditure, income (including rates) and use of debt for the local government sector as a whole, and for selected groupings within the sector. Councils will make final decisions on their forecast financial positions when they approve their final 2009/19 long-term council community plans (these decisions are due by 30 June 2009).

Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002

Part 13 of the Local Government Bill 2001 was split off during the Committee stages of the House to become a separate Act, the Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002. This Act made several amendments to the Local Electoral Act 2001. These amendments were:

• to implement policy decisions on reviews of representation by local authorities and Maori wards;
• to implement changes arising from the review of the 2001 local elections by the Justice & Electoral Committee; and
• to add preparatory provisions for the implementation of STV.

• Link here to the Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (www.legislation.govt.nz)

Background to the Local Government Act 2002

The Local Government Act 1974 (LGA) was the main piece of legislation defining the power and responsibility of local authorities. The decision to review the Act, and other local government legislation, was made in March 2000. The review of the LGA and preparation of the consultation document saw unprecedented levels of cooperation between central and local government. The new Local Government Bill was introduced to Parliament on 18 December 2001, and received royal assent on 24 December 2002.

• Click here to view the Local Government Bill as introduced to Parliament on 18 December 2001 (737k)

(This document is in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. You need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download a free version from the Adobe site.)

Summary of Changes
Link here to a media statement from the Minister of Local Government, Hon Chris Carter.
For some background to the passing of the Act, link here to the second and third reading speech notes of the Hon Chris Carter, Minister of Local Government:

• Second reading speech notes: 18/12/2002
• Third reading speech notes: 20/12/2002

The Local Government Bill as reported back to Parliament
The Local Government Bill was reported back to Parliament from the Local Government and Environment Select Committee on 10 December.

The following material was prepared by Department of Internal Affairs to aid understanding of the changes between the Local Government Bill as introduced to Parliament on 18 December 2001 and the Bill as reported back from the Local Government and Environment Select Committee on 10 December 2002.

• Changes between Local Government Bill as introduced and as reported back 140k(This document is in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. You need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download a free version from the Adobe site.)

The following link will direct you to an electronic version of the Bill as reported back, courtesy of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives website:

• Local Government Bill (December 2002)

Related Information

• Review of the initial rollout of the local government legislation (2001-2004) (May 2007)

• Policy development guidelines for regulatory functions involving local government (December 2006) These guidelines have been prepared to prompt and assist central government agencies to identify and consider key issues that may arise where local authorities are, or are proposed to be, involved in the implementation of regulatory functions.

• Strategy for Evaluating Local Government Legislation (December 2005) Link here to a copy of the strategy developed by the Department of Internal Affairs for evaluating the roles, responsibilities, powers and accountabilities of local government as defined by the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Electoral Act 2001, and the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

• Local Government Act Review (May 2000 - Dec 2001)
• View a copy of the LGA Review Consultation Document
• View a LGA Review Synopsis and Analysis of Submissions
• View LGA Review Cabinet Papers (Historical - 2001)
• View earlier LGA Review discussion documents
• Local Electoral Review (Historical - 2001)
• Link here to Department of Internal Affairs Local Government Policy pages.
• Local Government Funding Project - Background information about the Local Government Funding Project (Local Government Policy), including a link to the July 2005 Report on Local Authority Funding Issues.
• Link here to information about the Local Government Law Reform (No. 3) Bill
• Link here to information about the Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill
• Maori and Local Government The Department of Internal Affairs EfM team has produced this document on Treaty of Waitangi issues and the Maori provisions in recent Local Government Legislation.
• Legal advice on using a casting vote (For local councils, under the Local Government Act 2002) pdf. (295k)