1989 New Zealand local government reforms

[1] Over subsequent decades, many new bodies were set up, some of them multi-purpose, and others single-purpose,[2] such as harbour boards.

[2] The Labour Party had reform of local government as one of its policies for the 1984 election, but did not give much detail; the proposals were developed during the first term of the Fourth Labour Government after the party won the election.

[3][4] The government gave the commission a guarantee that their findings would be treated as binding.

[2] Some 850 entities were amalgamated into 86 local authorities on regional and territorial levels.

[6] Brian Rudman, a journalist and editorial writer for The New Zealand Herald, called the reforms "revolutionary".