Kaipara District Council votes to disestablish Māori ward

RNZ.

Kaipara District Council has voted to disestablish its Māori ward, becoming the first council to do so under new rules, in a tense council meeting.

Councillors voted six to three in favour of disestablishing the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward, with one abstention.

An extraordinary council meeting deciding the fate of the council’s Māori ward was attended by councillors, members of the public and at least 150 demonstrators at the council’s Mangawhai office.

Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora twice opened the council chamber doors allowing waiata and karanga from outside to flow inside, interrupting the meeting.

Mayor Craig Jepson threatened to oust Paniora if her behaviour continued, under council’s standing orders, and paused the meeting briefly.

Paniora moved to postpone the vote pending consultation with iwi under section 81 of the Local Government Act, and said she had “had enough” of the council making decisions without seeking input from the segment of society it impacted.

Fellow councillor Eryn Wilson-Collins told the meeting voting to scrap Māori wards without iwi input would be detrimental to ongoing relationships.

“It is not just Māori that are asking us to have the Māori wards. It is not just Māori who are asking us to live in a modern bicultural society,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen compared the scenes that played out as an example of “tribal warfare” and “civil unrest”.

Following the vote, Paniora delivered the news to crowds of supporters gathered outside. She said the council’s decision to continue with the vote was illegal and in breach of its legal requirements under the Local Government Act.

Paniora said they had begun legal action in the High Court.

“They will not be allowed to continue with their representation review, and unfortunately our ratepayers will have to bear the burden of challenging and defending the legal cost for those proceedings.”

In his closing speech, Jepson said the idea of a Māori ward was condescending to Māori.

“If you are the best candidate, no matter who your ancestors are, you will be elected. This is well-proven in the history of our nation’s local and central government.

“To name a few, Mayor [Tania] Tapsell in Rotorua, Mayor [Tory] Whanau in Wellington and Moko Tepania in the Far North District Council – all Māori mayors. We have famous politicians – Winston Peters, Shane Jones and David Seymour – as leaders of our coalition government.”

Jepson said it harked back to something Martin Luther King said about wanting children to grow up in a nation free of discrimination.

“I think we live in a society right now where we actually value that.”

The establishment of Māori wards relied on a false narrative, he said.

“That narrative breaches that Māori have no voice, are unfairly disadvantaged, are oppressed, suffer the continued effects of colonisation and systemic racism.

“Those of us who were not blessed with Māori ancestry should feel guilty for the past misdeeds of our ancestors. I am… a product of white privilege, I guess.”

Jepson said most Kiwis, no matter their culture, believed this – citing low turnout of Māori ward voters.

Councils have until 6 September to decide whether to drop the wards. If they did not reach a decision, a binding referendum must be held alongside the election.

Jepson had been called on to resign by iwi groups over his stance to remove the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward.

The topic of Māori wards is back in the news cycle after a bill introduced by the coalition government passed its third reading in Parliament.

It will require councils that brought in Māori wards without polling residents to hold one, or scrap the ones they had set up.

The Local Government (Māori Wards) Amendment Bill came out of a commitment in the coalition agreements with both ACT and NZ First.

Councils that established Māori wards without a referendum will now have to hold a binding poll alongside the 2025 local body elections.

The results of those referendums would be binding and take effect from the 2028 local government term.

But what exactly is a Māori ward and what do people think of them?

Here’s what you need to know.

What is a Māori ward?

According to Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), Māori wards allow Māori to be part of decision-making and have representation on local councils.

LGNZ says having such wards is one way for councils to honour the partnership principle committed to in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Those who are enrolled on the Māori electoral roll vote for candidates standing for Māori wards to represent them, LGNZ says.

“The successful Māori ward candidates will become councillors at council. Councillors have a responsibility to represent their communities. Māori ward councillors will have a particular responsibility to represent people of Māori descent and bring forward Māori views and aspirations. However, they also represent the entire community in a region, city or district.”

The former Labour government abolished the referenda for Māori wards in 2022 as no other types of wards, such as rural wards, went to a vote.

LGNZ president Sam Broughton told RNZ in April all wards should be treated the same – and the legislation being introduced by government was “a complete overreach”.

“This is a coalition government that prided itself on talking about localism ahead of the election,” he said.

“Councils are more than capable of making these decisions themselves … and this is a backwards step.”

In February, Broughton told RNZ local decisions should be left up to local councils.

“We made the same case last time this was changed. It’s not that we’re saying there should be Māori wards or that there shouldn’t be Māori wards. We’re just saying when that decision is made by council it shouldn’t be subject to referenda when no other ward or constituency decision needs to go to referenda also.”

He said Māori wards had helped improve indigenous representation on councils.

“Since 2019, when the representation of Māori on local government was about 14 percent, we’ve now seen that lift to just over 20 percent at the last election.”

He said claims Māori wards gave Māori more votes than anyone else were wrong.

What is the government saying about Māori wards?

On 30 July, Minister of Local Government Simeon Brown said it was a “great day for democracy” as the bill passed it third reading.

Brown said “divisive changes” were introduced by the previous Labour government that “denied” local communities the ability to determine whether to establish local Māori wards in their communities.

“They took away the voices of local communities across the country and undermined the principles of democracy,” he said.

The government announced the move in April, with ACT Party leader David Seymour celebrating it.

In a statement, he said the decision should lie with “the communities themselves, not Wellington”.

“Labour stripped democracy from local government by removing the ability to call for a local referendum on Māori wards, and the government is restoring voters’ voices,” he said.

How have local councils responded to the change?

LDR reported just days ago that Kaipara District Council could become the first to scrap its Māori ward under the new legislation.

Mayor Craig Jepson has called for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the topic on Wednesday and said he would be voting to get rid of it.

Kaipara District Council Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora told LDR she thought the majority would vote alongside the mayor.

She was sad Jepson could not see the value te iwi Māori brought to the council.

“Our people share the same vision of prosperity,” she told LDR.

“Our tupuna Tiopira and Te Rore donated land for [Dargaville’s] roads, Parore for the hospital, the church, the water plant that feeds the town, the racecourse, Kai Iwi lakes – the list goes on.

“The council has not spoken to our people, our marae, our iwi or our hapū. It hasn’t even spoken to the community on whether or not they want to keep it. How is that democratic?”

Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor confirmed to LDR the council would vote on Māori wards before the 6 September deadline.

Most of the council voted in favour of establishing a Māori ward in May 2021 and the region’s first Māori ward councillor said the need to vote on a referendum was frustrating and heartbreaking.

“I am disappointed, I am frustrated, I am over the actions of our coalition government,” Allanah Burgess (Te Ātiawa, Ngāi Tahu), told LDR.

“Their discriminatory treatment of Māori is leading to further division of Māori and non-Māori communities.

“While a referendum may be seen as a democratic process, it is deeply troubling that Māori are being singled out in this manner.”

Meanwhile, Kāpiti Coast District Council has re-affirmed its decision to establish a Māori ward.

Mayor Janet Holborow said doing so supported the position of the council’s mana whenua partners and will ensure Māori have greater access to decision-making at a local level.

“It also supports the position of Local Government New Zealand who have stated that reversing councils’ ability to decide on Māori wards without polls is an overreach by central government and unfairly singles out Māori voters,” she said.