11.8 Inaugural meetings

Statutory declarations

• The chief executive calls the first meetings following an election for the Governing Body and each of the 21 local boards [1]. 
• He/she also chairs the Governing Body’s inaugural meeting until the mayor has made the declaration [2]. The mayor then chairs the meeting and the other members make their declarations. 
• The chief executive, or nominee (usually a member of the Executive Leadership Team), chairs local board inaugural meetings and each member makes a declaration, confirmed by the chief executive (or nominee). The members then elect a local board chairperson, who makes a chairperson’s declaration and chairs the meeting. 

The form of the declaration is prescribed in legislation. It is essentially a signed public statement that the member will perform his/her responsibilities in the best interests of the area (being the Auckland Council area for the mayor and Governing Body members and the local board area for each local board). 

Explanation of laws affecting members 

There is a legal requirement [3] for the chief executive to arrange an explanation of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and other laws affecting members including: 

• the appropriate provisions of the Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968 
• sections 99, 105, and 105A of the Crimes Act 1961 
• the Secret Commissions Act 1910 
• the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. 

These laws relate to pecuniary interest, corruption and bribery, improper gain, interest in contracts, use of confidential information for personal benefit (insider knowledge) and non-misleading offers of securities. 

Following each election, the explanation of these laws, as well as a number of other core legal requirements, is provided to newly elected members by way of a report presented at the first business meeting of the Governing Body and the first meeting of each local board. 

Elected members also underwent an extensive induction programme that focused on: 

• good governance and the role of elected members as decision-makers 
• the role of staff in providing advice 
• an overview of elected members’ legal obligations 
• trust and confidence in Auckland Council 
• obligations to Māori and the role of the Independent Māori Statutory Board 
• Auckland Council’s shared governance model and how it works in practice. 

Welcome by mana whenua

It is customary for mana whenua to welcome newly-elected local government members. At Auckland Council, this has included a formal pōwhiri for all Governing Body and local board elected members, prior to inaugural meetings, and a whakatau mihi at each of the inaugural meetings. 

Footnotes

[1] Local Government Act 2002, schedule 7, clause 21 

[2] Local Government Act 2002, schedule 7, clause 14 

[3] Local Government Act 2002, schedule 7, clause 21