Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber says he's fully supportive of plans to amend the Local Electoral Act. Photo / File
Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber says he's fully supportive of plans to amend the Local Electoral Act. Photo / File
A mayoral submission expressing strong support for proposed changes to legislation surrounding the matter of Māori wards in local government has been formally received by Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
But not without resistance.
Western Bay mayor Garry Webber presented his written submission in a Policy Committee meeting today, supporting the intent of the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill currently being reviewed by the Māori Affairs Select Committee.
The amended bill was expected to remove provisions in the Local Electoral Act that allowed for the use of binding polls in the decision to establish Māori wards or constituencies. It would also remove the use of binding polls in decisions about whether a local district or region should be divided into multiple Māori wards or constituencies.
These provisions did not apply to general wards and constituencies and had been used to overturn some decisions made by local authorities such as the Western Bay council's vote for a Māori ward in 2017.
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In his submission, Webber said the current legislation that allowed for Māori ward decisions to be challenged was "unfair" and the bill rightly addressed this.
"We have 11 iwi and 74 hapū within our rohe and while no representation system is perfect it needs to represent the people it affects. The introduction of Māori wards recognises this and paves the way for fairer representation," Webber said in his submission.
The receiving of the submission was carried by every elected member except councillor Margaret Murray-Benge, who headed a group of "Concerned Citizens" which successfully gained signatures against Tauranga City Council's August decision to establish a Māori ward.
Western Bay of Plenty councillor Margaret Murray-Benge has also made a submission to Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill. Photo / File
Murray-Benge told the meeting she also made a submission to the bill and criticised a "lack of time for any form of consultation, whether with the community or for us to talk to our community about it".
"We know the referendum [was going ahead], we know the reaction we had - that there are people who don't want one [Māori ward]. I don't know who organised the submissions with you but I don't agree with it."
Webber responded: "You may rest assured, I made it very clear to the committee that our council was not unanimous but it had strong support."
Councillor Anne Henry said she supported the submission.
Webber and Murray-Benge then debated the merits of the National Party before Webber explained to councillors the matter of a potential representation review of the council was not as simple as "do we want a Māori ward, yes or no".
"It's not a simple thing. If we do, what is the impact of the rest of the representation [on council]? It's a fairly lengthy process."
Webber's submission was received and noted. It joins 4050 other submissions made to Parliament on the matter.
The bill was introduced on February 5 with its first reading on February 9. Public submissions were called for and closed on February 11. The bill was now in the process if its second reading.
If successful, the bill would set out a transitional period to give local authorities the opportunity to make or revoke resolutions about these polls, their outcomes, and any decisions to hold them, in time for the 2022 local elections.
This transitional period would end on May 21. After the start date in the bill, no such binding poll could be held, regardless of any actions taken before the start date.
