GOLD Report I - UCLG

ASIA-PACIFIC86United Cities and Local Governmentssidents of these youth councils and of theirfederations represent the youth as ex-officiomembers at every tier of the localgovernment system.In Australia and New Zealand the rights ofindigenous peoples to local self-governmentis a political issue, and one that ismore about self-determination than aboutinclusion (Sproats 2003). In Australia,there is a long-standing difficulty in incorporatingthe aboriginal population withinthe formal governmental structures. Insome regions, there are special localgovernment areas to serve the needs ofthe aboriginal population in order toachieve a greater degree of representationfor them. Although the Maori populationin New Zealand makes up 15% of thetotal population, it accounted for only 6%of council members in 1998-2001. Despitethe absence of affirmative action inboth countries, female representation atthe local political level is considerable. In2000, 26% of council members in Australiawere women and only 10% of councilshad no women councilors. Some 15% ofcouncils had a woman mayor, more inmetropolitan areas (21%) than in ruralcouncils (11%) (UNESCAP 2005a). InNew Zealand, women accounted for 34%of city council members and 28% of districtcouncil members in 2004. In thesame year four of the 16 city mayors and12% of district mayors were women(UNESCAP 2005b).