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A civics and citizenship curriculum should be cemented in New Zealand schools because knowledge students are entitled to is being left to chance, says a leading academic.
According to the guide, civics education develops students knowledge of their rights and duties as New Zealand citizens, and of civic processes, such as how laws are made, how voting works and how to deal with government agencies. Citizenship education develops “active citizens”, including how to listen respectfully to the views of others and how to effect change. The guide says Aotearoa has a robust democracy, but its resilience should not be taken for granted. In 2019, a digital survey by Seed Waikato, a charity for young Waikato people, found two in five respondents aged between 15 and 34 didn’t know how to cast a vote in the 2019 local body elections, and eight out of 10 felt disconnected from their council.
The Christchurch City Council has a 75 per cent ownership stake in Christchurch Airport through its holdings company, Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL). CCHL was set up in 1993 to shift control of council-owned companies away from the council, depoliticising the running of businesses. Companies owned by the council include Lyttelton Port and lines company Orion. Today, each council-owned company has its own board of directors who oversee operations with a commercial lens. The council has no involvement in the operational side of the companies it owns. In the case of the proposed Tarras airport, buying land in the small Central Otago town was deemed to be an operational decision, so council approval was not needed. Some councillors found out about the project at the same time as the public.