Every three years, we worry about how to get people interested in local body elections, but disturbingly, voter turnout continues to fall. Since 1989, when councils throughout New Zealand were massively restructured, the percentage has dropped from 57 to 41 per cent. Additionally, we struggle to achieve the diversity of candidates desperately needed. Mary Anne Gill talks to one elected member who is stepping down after two terms to find out what needs to change.
Elise Badger wants to concentrate on her burgeoning boutique fitness business and her young family. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
When Elise Badger returned home after living in Australia for a decade, she wanted to make a positive impact on the community.
Local Government Elections 2025
She ran for the Cambridge Community Board under the banner ‘Committed to Cambridge’ and was duly elected.
Six years on, she is stepping down to concentrate on her business and family. The logical progression for someone as talented and skilled as her would be to stand for Waipā District Council.
To lose Badger from local government is disappointing. It is unlikely anything – more money for example – or anyone could have changed her mind.
Badger, 39, and partner Richie, a civil engineer, have three children aged 10, 6 and 10 months. Community board members get about $10,000 a year to attend monthly meetings, which start at 6pm and can last from one to four hours.
In 2019 when the Remuneration Authority responded to widespread concern from the local government sector that a lack of financial support for childcare created a barrier for women to go for elected positions, Badger claimed $405 in one year for childcare costs incurred while attending evening board meetings.
Then a solo mother, she was the only Waipā elected representative to claim it and made no excuses for doing so. Potential candidates should be made aware of it so elected members represent their communities,” she said when questions were being asked about the future of community boards.
“I think the challenge of local government across the board is balancing paid employment against the council commitments.”
Small actions like paid childcare help attract diverse representation.
The key was having a strong strategic focus.
Born in Cambridge at the now closed maternity home – her parents were dairy farmers in Scotsmen’s Valley – she considers herself Cambridge to the core.
She went on to train as a physiotherapist in Auckland and practised in Melbourne where most of her time was spent in musculoskeletal health and rehabilitation. While in Australia she founded Mamas Milkbar, a social enterprise, and created the Breastfeeding Box, a support kit for new mothers.
She describes herself on her LinkedIn profile as an entrepreneur and it was this experience she wanted to bring back.
“I’ve always loved the small town feel of Cambridge. It has everything you could ever need or want and is some place to live and raise your children.”
In her first term on the Cambridge Community Board, Elise Badger, second left with Mike Montgomerie, Jo Davies-Colley, Sue Milner, Jim Goddin, Alana MacKay
Badger’s skillset was exactly what the board needed when, at her suggestion, it established the Pop Up Edible Garden initiative.
The project delivered edible vegetables, fruits and herbs, composting, improved access to food and fostered neighbourly interaction.
Residents became guardian of the gardens and attended community planting days.
In her second term, Badger was elected deputy chair and fought a rear-guard action when it became clear that some in the council wanted to eliminate community boards.
The Cambridge board had to justify its existence and prove its value to the community which it did regularly.
“I think the key to that was having a strong strategic focus. At the beginning of the term we worked out our priorities and we basically just aligned all our decision making to those priorities and that allowed us to stay focussed.”
They put energy into the things that they thought were important – a new library/community hub, urban mobility in Leamington’s Shakespeare Street and a vibrant and people friendly CBD.
Cambridge Community Board, from left Elise Badger, Aloana Mackay, Jo Davies-Colley, Andrew Myers, Mike Montgomerie, Sue Milner.
The board is a link between residents in Cambridge and Maungatautari and the council sees itself as a partner in council’s vision of building connected communities.
“I think we were as effective as a community board can be within the constraints of the role and the environment,” she says.
The board is seen as a breeding ground for district councillors; Grahame Webber, Mike Pettit, Roger Gordon and Philip Coles are examples of elected members who made the step up. Current chair Jo Davies-Colley has announced she will stand for council.
Wave that flag and have an impact
Badger’s passion is health and wellbeing where she wants to make the most positive impact on the most people with her actions, decisions and words.
She recently opened Āhua, a boutique fitness studio where she uses her experience as a physiotherapist and pilates instructor to preach injury prevention with the right kind of exercise. It is “not another pilates studio,” she says.
“We take a very relentlessly positive approach to wellbeing.”
It has gone so well that six months ago, while juggling life with a new baby and growing business, she had to decide where to put her energy. Family and her clients won out.
Badger says it is tricky to work out how to attract more diverse candidates and how to increase voter turnout.
Cambridge Community Board’s Elise Badger discussed plans for Leamington Domain with the Cambridge Model Engineering Society. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“It comes massively down to a lack of awareness. When I talk to people there is very little understanding on how council affects their lives – from young people upwards – what council does and why they are so crucial in society.”
And they do not know who they are voting for.
“It’s just that challenge of getting in front of people. When you have a small voting population, your vote counts so much.”
But another thing Badger has realised is you do not have to be an elected member to have an influence.
“Your voice becomes incredibly influential.”
Making a submission on council suggestions is one way, she says.
“You can be a private citizen with something you want to see happen. Wave that flag and have an impact.”
So, what does she want her legacy on the community board to be?
“One day Cambridge will have a beautiful new library and community hub. That is the reality of a leadership role. You are investing in the future, and it might be some time before you see the fruits of your labour.”
See: Board to lose chair, deputy
Shelley Scrafton, Elise Badger and Rosanna Wallis in Ahua Studio, Cambridge. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
