May 2023

Social media discussion levels have increased after the lull that followed the local body elections.

Discussion about the impacts of the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle were there but other events in Auckland were responsible for the spikes in conversation. The finances of the city under the new mayor generated significant amounts of discussion, as did giving Posie Parker’s event the green light and voting to leave LGNZ. While discussion about the Posie Parker event was extremely prominent, most of what was being said did not relate directly back to local government, although the way in which the Auckland council handled the situation was under scrutiny.

While discussion about 3 Waters and its revamp were present, they didn’t attract the same levels of attention they had previously.
January’s survey took place before the weather events. The results provided a more positive outlook than we have seen in the last two quarters of the survey. Outside of Auckland, April results have dropped in relation to overall satisfaction but are stable for the driver questions of information provision, opportunities to have a say and value for money. Auckland results are down across all measures.

The information presented here provides a holistic view of public perceptions by combining data from a nationally representative sample of New Zealanders with social media trend analysis.

If you would like to unpack this more, get in touch with Liz Morley liz@researchfirst.co.nz