An invitation to local government officials

Saturday, 7 September 2019, 10:30 am
Press Release: Generation Zero

Youth organisation Generation Zero is once more doing their scorecards for the upcoming local body elections, and at a time when selected councils throughout the country have rightfully declared a climate emergency, it is more important than ever that our elected representatives are held accountable.

We need our local government officials to follow through on actions necessary for addressing this emergency.

Volunteers from Generation Zero throughout the country are giving their time and effort to ensure that all candidates have the opportunity to express their views by interviewing candidates.

“It is crucial that those running in the local elections are open to being interviewed as there are people, especially rangatahi, throughout Aotearoa who want to know that those running are taking climate change seriously and have a vision for an equitable and liveable city” says Bruce Kidd the co-convenor for the Auckland Generation Zero team.

Generation Zero sees these scorecards as a crucial way to help provide clear and accessible information available to voters and to make those accountable for addressing climate change.

To create these scorecards, Generation Zero is interviewing an array of local council candidates on where they stand on key issues in their region, from housing to transport. Candidates are being interviewed in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Throughout the country, the group has contacted all the local body candidates and is welcoming those who have not been interviewed to get involved in this democratic process. Selected candidates will be marked if they do not take part but their grades will be hindered because of this.

Generation Zero recommends people to see if their local candidates are getting involved in the scorecard process and are valuing their responsibilities to their communities.

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