A number of women who attended local body election workshops run by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner have been elected to office in the 2007 elections.
They include a new female mayor, two first time female councillors, two women as new members of a regional authority, sitting councillors and members of community boards.
Jenny Rowan, the new mayor of Kapiti, Sarah Walters, a newly elected member of Selwyn District Council, Jane Demeter and Eugenie Sage both elected to Environment Canterbury (ECANZ), Jan Barnett, elected for the first time to Palmerston North City Council, Judy Kirk elected to the Riccarton-Wigram Community Board, Jackie Kruger, re-elected to Invercargill City Council and Celia Wade-Brown re-elected to the Wellington City Council were some of the successful women who participated in the workshops as participants and facilitators.
“An impressive range of women participated in the workshops either because they were standing themselves or because they wanted to support others,” EEO Commissioner, Dr Judy McGregor said. The workshops were aimed at boosting women’s confidence and desire to stand and helping them with a practical toolkit for campaigning.
The number of female mayors elected in New Zealand in the 2007 elections dropped from 14 out of 74 (18.9%) in 2004 to 13 out of 73 (17.8%) according to Local Government New Zealand. Banks Peninsula merged with Christchurch during this period.
Figures for the number of female councillors are still being analysed by LGNZ. The number of female councillors slipped in the previous election. New Zealand lags behind the Commonwealth target of 30% female representation.
Five workshops were held by the Human Rights Commission supported by the National Council of Women in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. The Human Rights Commission ran another workshop for women in Kapiti and worked with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in Kaitaia to encourage women to stand and to prepare them for the campaign.
The workshops covered the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Commonwealth target and a number of practical skills like how to write a candidate profile, how to use the media, low cost techniques for campaigning, the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system used for District Health Board elections and the use of women’s networks to increase votes.