Kaipara mayor declines a moment of silence for Kīngi Tūheitia in council meeting

Originally published by Te Ao Māori News

Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson declined a moment of silence for the late Kīngi Tūheitia in a council meeting on Wednesday morning, a day before the late Māori king was buried on Maunga Taupiri.

This hui was the first public meeting Kaipara District Council has held since the Māori king died last Friday.

After recording the apologies and conflict of interest, a councillor asked the mayor: “Can we hold a moment [of] silence for respect in the passing of Kīngi Tūheitia?”

In response, Jepsen said: “No, I’m not going to do that today. It’s not on the agenda.”

He continued with the meeting, with the councillor who asked the question whispering loudly: “What a surprise.”

Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora was attending the meeting via Zoom. She turned on her camera when the question was declined, and was seen shaking her head.

‘The mayor will go down as the most divisive’

After the meeting, Te Ao Māori News asked her for comment. In response, she said the mayor was continuing “to disregard and disrespect Māori”.

“There was no need for the dismissal of a moment’s silence. King Tūheitia will forever be regarded as the King of kotahitanga, whereas the mayor will go down as the most divisive,” she said in a statement.

When Te Ao Māori News asked Jepsen for comments, he responded a day later with a short message.

“This item had not been raised ahead of the meeting, and was not on the agenda.”

The Kaipara council faced criticism in early August, when it became the first council to strike down its Māori ward as of 2025 after establishing it less than two years ago.

Jepson had called for the meeting less than 24 hours after the coalition Government passed the amendment to the Local Government Act in a letter to the chief executive.

Dame Naida Glavish is one of a chorus of voices who have called for Jepson’s resignation over the rush to disestablish the ward, a call Jepson has declined.

It’s far from the first time Jepson has found himself in hot water with Māori, with hundreds confronting him over his refusal to allow Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora the opportunity to say a karakia at the first council meeting held in 2022.