The 1989 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections held in New Zealand on Saturday 14 October 1989. They were the first local elections held after the 1989 New Zealand local government reforms, which saw hundreds of pre-existing councils and other local bodies consolidated together significantly.
Key dates relating to the local elections were as follows:
The Labour Party had reform of local government as one of its policies for the , but did not give much detail; the proposals were developed during the first term of the Fourth Labour Government after the party won the election. Michael Bassett was Minister of Local Government and appointed a Local Government Commission, which was chaired by Brian Elwood from 1 April 1985 to 1 November 1992. The government gave the commission a guarantee that their findings would be treated as binding. The resulting local government reform was undertaken along the lines of marketisation, and was done in conjunction with neoliberal economic reforms known as Rogernomics. Some 850 entities were amalgamated into 86 local authorities on regional and territorial levels. Of the 850 entities, 249 were municipalities, and the remainder harbour boards, catchment boards, and drainage boards. The new authorities came into being on 1 November 1989, with the local politicians having been elected on 14 October. Brian Rudman, a journalist and editorial writer for The New Zealand Herald, called the reforms "revolutionary".
The regional level of government in New Zealand is organised into areas controlled by regional councils.
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All territorial authorities (including the one unitary authority) directly elected mayors.
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