Get to know Buller's candidates for local government elections 2025

Buller District Council is pulling out the stops to make sure local voters have the best possible chance to learn about the candidates standing for council in the upcoming local government elections.

On the recommendation of the Electoral Officer, council invited candidates to make short videos to sit alongside their biographies on the Buller District Council website.

Group Manager Community Services Krissy Trigg says an important part of the CEO’s role in the lead-up to the elections is encouraging voters to enrol and follow through by voting on or before election day.

“The candidate videos produced by our Communication and Engagement team are a new initiative for Buller and are in line with practices adopted by many other councils across the motu. Their purpose is to provide the community with clear, accessible information about candidates standing for election, and to encourage voter engagement.”

All candidates for Buller’s local wards, mayoralty and Development West Coast positions were invited by council to record a 90-second video, with each candidate asked the same three questions and allowed 30 seconds to respond to each.

“People often don’t vote because they feel they don’t know enough about the candidates or their policies. Having these videos available online to accompany candidate information makes those views and opinions known” continues Ms Trigg.

National voter turnout has seen a steady downward trend over the past three decades. Buller’s overall turnout in the 2022 local government elections was 49.2%, down from 61.1% in 2019.

“A growing number of councils are producing candidate videos ahead of the local elections to help voters learn more about who is standing. The videos, which are produced at no cost to ratepayers, enable community members to better see and hear which candidates resonate with them and assist with their decision making. We hope this will lead to more people deciding to vote this year” says Ms Trigg.

Buller District voters will elect a mayor, 10 councillors, four Inangahua Community Board members, two Buller regional constituents on the West Coast Regional Council and one Buller representative for Development West Coast when they go to the polls this election cycle. Development West Coast Candidate videos will be made available here.

Voting papers for registered electors will begin arriving in mailboxes around the district from Tuesday 9 September. Those not already registered are able to cast a special vote by contacting their local electoral officer – see vote.nz for further details. The cut-off for voting is noon on Saturday 11 October 2025.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:
Community Engagement Team 
Buller District Council
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz 

Disclaimer
The information in this media release was correct at time of publication. Changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information.