'Bitter-sweet' response to delay in Napier City Council's Māori ward decision

Heather Te Au Skipworth says she doesn't find the mayor's reasoning on the delayed decision to be "a great excuse". Photo / NZME

Criticism about the time it took for the Napier City Council to decide to include Māori representation at the table hasn't fallen on deaf ears.

The concerns were expressed after the decision to include at least one Māori ward from 2025 was made on Wednesday.

Mayor Kirsten Wise acknowledged the need for resolution of injustices against Māori at the hands of Government and local government, but was sure council had taken the right stance in the circumstances, which included ministerial denial of an extension of time to make a decision committing to change in time for the local elections next year.

Discussion on the final future makeup of the council is now at least 12 months away.

The council decision came five months after determining, in contrast to more than 30 other local authorities, that it did not have enough time to properly consult and meet Government-set deadlines to have the representation in place for the triennial elections next year.

Napier completed its last six-yearly representation review three years ago, installing a new full-wards structure at the local elections in 2019. The 12-member council (with five in their first term) was mindful the structure had been in place just two years and, with two resident-sparked judicial reviews against decisions of recent past councils, of potential for further challenges at ratepayer expense.

Napier mayor Kirsten Wise said it's likely there will eventually be two Māori ward members. Photo NZME

Te Taiwhenua o Te Whanganui a Orotu chief executive Tania Eden and Heather Te Au Skipworth, a third-term Hawke's Bay District Health Board member with whānau links to Napier iwi Ngati Paarau and who led a protest against the council stance earlier this year, were both critical of the delay.

Eden told Radio New Zealand: "We are very pleased, but also disappointed, because it is bitter-sweet that a decision wasn't made earlier."

Skipworth said councils, knowing the stance of a Labour Government, should have acted earlier, and she did not find Wise's points to be a "great excuse".

Chad Tareha, chairman of council Māori committee Ngā Mānukanuka o te Iwi, told RNZ that while "happy" and "excited" by the outcome he realised "the hard work's just starting now."

Wise, mayor for just two years, said it's likely to be more than a year before a new post-election council starts working on a future structure, but population means "it looks like" there will eventually be two Māori ward members.

Ward representation can be part or all of the council membership, but while the at-large part representation had gone at the last election, she still hears interest in its resurrection, and said: "There's no reason why it could not come back."