Does the Hurunui District Council open its meetings with a prayer?

Alex Harris made this Official Information Act request to Hurunui District Council

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

11 April 2012

Dear Hurunui District Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council
abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the
Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread
this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information
under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer?
* If the answer to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that
prayer (or examples, if more than one is used), when the practice
was first established, whether the council has considered
abolishing it in the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice
the council may hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the
Human Rights Act 1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: Graham Sutherland
Hurunui District Council

12 April 2012

Dear Alex

The Hurunui District Council does not open its meetings with a prayer.

You may be interested to know that Council meetings begin with an Affirmation - the wording is as follows:

"AFFIRMATION:
WE PLEDGE THAT WE WILL FAITHFULLY AND IMPARTIALLY USE OUR SKILLS, WISDOM AND JUDGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE DISCUSSIONS AND DELIBERATIONS AHEAD OF US TODAY IN ORDER TO MAKE RESPONSIBLE AND APPROPRIATE DECISIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF HURUNUI DISTRICT AT LARGE. WE COMMIT INDIVIDUALLY AND AS COUNCIL TO THE PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRITY AND RESPECT, AND TO UPHOLDING THE VALUES THAT WE BELIEVE DISTINGUISH AND ENRICH OUR DISTRICT."

Regards
Graham

Graham Sutherland
Council Secretary
T 03 314 0030 | F 03 314 9181 | [email address]
Hurunui District Council, 66 Carters Rd, PO Box 13, Amberley 7441 | hurunui.govt.nz
Hurunui Wellness “In Hurunui we live the lives the rest of the world would love to live”
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From: CustomerServices
Hurunui District Council

12 April 2012

[Subject only] FW: Local Government Official Information and Meetings request: Does the Hurunui District Council open its meetings with a prayer?

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