Elected members (Mayor, Councillors, Committee or Community Board members) and appointed members will have professional and personal links to their community. They (and/or their partners/family) may own a property and/or business or be a member of a board or organisation. They may have a pecuniary (financial) interest or a non-pecuniary (non-financial) interest. These interests are a part of living in the community in which they have roles in local government. Members’ interests could create real or perceived conflict for an issue under consideration.
There are two Acts which are relevant to interests, and which require Council to have processes to manage them. There is an annual process and then a process for when interests arise at meetings.
The two underlying purposes of LAMIA are to:
Elected members will also have interests that are considered no greater than the public at large. For example, many elected members will own a property and therefore be a ratepayer in Tasman District.
New requirements under the LGA require elected members to complete an annual return. A register of all these interests is maintained by the Council.
The purpose of the new requirements for elected members under the LGA 2002, effective from November 2022, is to increase transparency, trust and confidence in local government. It is modelled on the requirements that apply to members of Parliament while reflecting particular aspects of local government.
It is up to members to judge whether they have any interests to declare. Some members may not have any.
In addition to the annual return, members may decide that they have an interest in a particular issue or item to be discussed at a meeting. There is a standing item on every meeting agenda for members to declare conflicts of interest.
Members who have declared an interest in any matters that are due to be considered at a meeting should declare that they have an interest in the matter, leave the table, and not take part in any discussion, debate, or vote on that matter. This is a decision though for the member.
A summary of these interests is made available to the public. This summary combines elected members’ disclosures under the LGA via their annual return, and contains additional interests disclosed under LAMIA. LAMIA interests are updated in this summary as circumstances change, and new or updated declarations of interests are made by elected and appointed members.
Read the 2022-2023 - Tasman District Council - Summary of Members Interests (pdf 318 KB)
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