Brown remains coy on Maori voting

Len Brown. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Auckland Mayor Len Brown is refusing to say if he supports unelected members of the Auckland Council's Maori statutory board being able to vote on council committees.

Mr Brown said he was "somewhat surprised" at the extent of the voting roles of the appointed Maori members, who may sit on as many as 20 of the council's committees.

Asked for a definitive position on the matter, Mr Brown said it was important to remember that the decision to set up the Maori statutory board was made by the Government.

"We need to play the cards that were dealt to us. It is vitally important we establish ways of ensuring strong Maori representation and input into the Auckland Council.

"I am working with other councillors and the Maori statutory board to clarify their role and how they will interact and guide the work of the Auckland Council," Mr Brown said.

Board chairman David Taipari said two members from the nine-member board had been nominated for each of the majority of 20 council committees.

"We have considered what skills they should have and we have put those names forward," he said last week.

Mr Brown is keeping an open mind about how the representation will work in practice and provided initial thoughts on what skills and expertise were required.

Labour's Auckland issues spokesman Phil Twyford said it was untenable and undemocratic for unelected members of the board to have voting rights alongside elected representatives and the Government should amend the law to make the positions advisory only.

Labour had always supported having Maori seats on the Auckland Council, he said.

Yesterday, Local Government Minister and Act leader Rodney Hide clarified his position on the voting issue after issuing a statement last week from Bali.

In that statement, he said the decision for unelected Maori to be members of committees was made at the select committee stage of a Super City bill. He did not say if he agreed with the decision.

Yesterday, he said he did not agree with the decision and argued against it when National and Maori Party members of a select committee made the recommendation for Maori to be able to vote on council committees.

"I never thought National would walk away from the 'one-law-for-all' policy, but on this occasion they did ... it is so against the National Party and Act Party core philosophy," he said.

Mr Hide, who threatened to resign as minister if the Government provided Maori seats on the council, said the subsequent Maori committee issue "was one of those compromises that was politically forced on me" and the Act Party voted for it.

Maori Party co-leader Dr Pita Sharples said the party lost the battle for Maori seats on the Auckland Council, but the Maori statutory board was certainly intended to give tangata whenua and Maori an influential voice in council affairs.

"I am still keen that the council should use the powers that all councils have, to establish dedicated Maori seats at the council table," he said.