Wairoa seats for Maori discussed

Maori seats will be considered for Wairoa District Council, but a request for $20,000 for a series of hui to discuss the proposal has been refused.
The call comes just months after a similar series of council-held hui to nominate members for a new Maori committee.
One councillor said the committee was already seen as powerless and "a toothless old hag".
The committee saw a need for Maori representation on council, even though 57 per cent of Wairoa's population were Maori.
Instead, council moved a resolution at Tuesday's council meeting that: The consultation of the designated Maori seats for the Wairoa Council be carried out under the normal due process and the whole of the community be consulted as one.
All local councils were required to review their election process every six years and Wairoa's review was due at the end of 2011.
Council representative on the Maori committee, Benita Cairns, said council CEO Peter Freeman had said he hoped "the Maori Committee can see themselves coming directly to council for requests that they feel are important to the committee".
Committee chairman Graeme Symes and the CEO Peter Freeman attended meetings but had no voting rights. Mr Freeman was absent from Tuesday's meeting.
Mr Symes reminded council of the Human Rights Commission's recommendation that councils support Maori election-process choices.
Wairoa mayor Les Probert suggested the committee be included in the planning process before community consultation. A lack of funds for consultation was unprecedented and unlikely, he said.
He suggested the resolution be altered so that the committee be included in the planning process.
Council then passed the resolution that: Consultation for designated Maori seats for the Wairoa District be carried out under the normal due process and the whole community be consulted as one and that council meet the Maori Standing Committee to discuss the level of consultation and related costs.