Maori were the big losers in Saturday's local government elections, Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis says.
Just two Maori candidates were voted in across Northland's four councils. And regional councillor Dover Samuels, who Mr Davis said had worked hard to give Maori a voice in council decision-making' lost his seat.
There were two possible solutions to the lack of Maori representation, Mr Davis said.
One was that Maori should "get off their arses and vote" but it was too easy to lay the blame at their feet. Many Maori did not vote because they felt disenfranchised and unrepresented. The other solution was to introduce dedicated Maori seats, he said.
Mr Samuels, a former Maori Affairs Minister, said he remained opposed to dedicated council seats for Maori even though the election had delivered a regional council without tangata whenua representation. He believed councillors should be elected solely according to their track record but many of the people who had called him since Saturday thought differently.