Jonathan Ayling, of Carterton, is the chief executive of the Free Speech Union. Photo: Emily Ireland / LDR
Alarm bells are ringing for the state of democracy in New Zealand, Carterton resident and Free Speech Union [FSU] chief executive Jonathan Ayling says.
A recent FSU survey revealed a majority of elected members felt council codes of conduct were being "weaponised" to silence them, Ayling said.
Ayling, whose wife Grace is a Carterton councillor, said codes of conduct were "not in and of themselves the problem".
"It is appropriate for us to expect respectful, measured behaviour and commentary from our local politicians."
The problem emerged when a code of conducts was used to "silence councillors; not because of the form of their comments, but in order to exclude their perspective", he said.
"When almost 25 percent of councillors believe this weaponisation happens at least 'frequently', there is a problem to address.
"If councillors are forced to self-censor and feel unable to challenge their staff, what effect does this then have on our nation?
"For our local democracies to flourish, measures need to be taken to encourage deliberation and debate, not distinguish it."
While 20 percent of respondents said they had never been silenced, Ayling said the FSU continued to be aware of councils with censorial attitudes.
"Just within the past month, we've been notified of four councils failing to uphold free speech.
"This is an issue we have followed for several years."
Unelected council staff were supposed to answer to elected representatives, "not the other way around", he said.
"Councillors are the ones elected by ratepayers; council staff aren't."
Ayling said the FSU had previously engaged with South Wairarapa and Carterton councils "when we felt free speech was not being respected", but that the FSU had not dealt with Masterton before.
"It seems clear that many councillors we engage with, including those in the three councils in Wairarapa, hold opinions and beliefs that they feel they are not able to contribute at the council table; this is especially true with respect to engaging with council staff/CEOs."
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
