A member's bill that would restore a fully elected regional council to Canterbury has been pulled from the ballot in Parliament.
Labour MP Megan Woods during caucas run April 2015. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The bill in the name of Labour MP Megan Woods aimed to get rid of government appointments for commissioners on the council.
In 2010, the government sacked the council's 13 elected councillors and replaced them with seven commissioners to improve the management of freshwater in Canterbury.
At this month's local body elections, seven regional councillors were elected to join six commissioners.
Ms Woods said Canterbury did not deserve to have less democratic representation than the rest of the country.
"There was never any justification for why Canterbury should be the only region that doesn't get to elect its regional council. National is out of touch with local people's desire to have a say in the people who will take their region forward," she said in a statement.