Over those years, I simply assumed that these were requirements that were set for all councils in New Zealand. I have subsequently learnt that is not the case. In fact, it appears, as is the case with Palmerston North City Council, that often the requirement to declare certain interests, or not, rests upon whether councils have provisions that call for it in their internal documents, such as a council code of conduct. As it currently stands, depending on the council, local government representatives can keep their interests private as long as they do not discuss or vote on matters that they have a direct financial interest in. Again, this requires mayors, chairs, councillors, and members to voluntarily disclose their interests and stand aside from votes upon matters for which themselves, they feel, are compromised. This bill will rectify that. It will remove inconsistency in the approaches taken by councils by having a bottom line that captures the pecuniary interests of all local elected members. 