Queenstown Mayoral Candidate Olivia Wensley has partnered with GoVote NZ to launch a new digital voting platform to help enable the voice of communities on key issues in their area as well as nationally.

It is widely felt that our communities are not heard, public consultation has been ad-hoc on key issues and there is a lot of friction involved in the public being able to communicate their thoughts and views on key matters.

The GoVote platform is the first of its kind in New Zealand. The service is free for the general public who want to have a say on key issues that matter to them and their communities. The platform allows the likes of local governments, public and private companies, politicians and media companies to post questions in real-time allowing the public to vote and have their say on big issues such as government policy, the economy and health.

“As we continue to become increasingly digitised in how we communicate, local government and public consultation have lagged in harnessing digital tools to make these processes easier. While there is still a place for traditional methods of communication, we are at risk of missing a large portion of our community who prefer to communicate in a digital medium and often from a mobile device”, says Wensley who strongly advocates for driving better engagement with the community.

The current CEO of Startup Queenstown Lakes, Wensley is a firm believer that technology such as this can help improve engagement and open lines of communication on key matters.

“Technology currently exists that can enable us to record public consultation to assist in bringing greater transparency to decision making within local and central Government. If I become Mayor, I hope to use this platform to ensure people’s voices are heard”, says Wensley, who comes from a background in technology and law.

“Transparency is vital to democracy. An online platform like GoVote will also allow the voices of younger voters to be heard using channels they are more comfortable using and will allow decision-makers to better engage with our communities and listen to what the people want".

For more information about the GoVote Platform, please visit https://www.govote.co.nz/queenstownlakes

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