Local Government Minister John Shimmin says he is 'pleasantly surprised' by the turnout in yesterday's Local Authority General Election.

He is paying tribute to the work done by staff in his department to ensure everyone was aware elections were taking place, and that they received good media coverage.

However, he accepts there are a lot of people who don't engage politically which remains a challenge for his department.

Mr Shimmin (pictured) also believes changing the voting date from November to April has helped (audio file attached):

John Shimmin was speaking to Dan Davies on Talking Heads.