Gary Holmes: New Zealand’s Voting System: Time to Stop Pretending
A Crisis of Participation Three in four Auckland voters did not vote in the 2025 local elections. Let that sit for a moment. The national turnout was 40%, and Auckland’s…
Gary Holmes is a local body politician and business association manager who made Waiuku his home and has never stopped asking questions about how it is governed. Elected to the Franklin Local Board in 2022 to represent the Waiuku subdivision, he has built a reputation as a fiscally conservative voice prepared to take on Auckland's bureaucracy when the numbers don't stack up. He believes good local government starts with reading the data yourself.