Politics / Wellington Region

Making councils more diverse through youth

13:30 pm on 9 May 2022

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If you've never had the pleasure (or pain) of sitting in on a council meeting, you'd be safe to assume, most of those gathered around the table are white, male and over 60.  

As we head towards another local body election Local Government New Zealand says councils in this country have a diversity problem.  It is changing slightly, with female representation now sitting at 40%, however multi-ethnic, Pacific and Maori are under represented.

So how do we change that? Jesse talks to NZ's youngest councillor, Sophie Handford.

Kāpiti Coast councillor Sophie Handford. Photo: Supplied