Palmerston North City Council votes to establish a Māori ward

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says the previous process to establish Māori wards has been fundamentally unfair to Māori. Photo/ Mark Mitchell

Palmerston North City Council has resolved to establish a Māori ward or wards for the 2022 and 2025 local government elections.

This follows the passing of the Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2021, which brings the process for establishing Māori wards in line with that for establishing general wards.

It also follows the council's decision in 2017 to establish Māori ward(s) after consulting with the community. However, a binding poll held in 2018 overturned this decision.

The new act has removed the right for electors to petition for binding polls.

The council's decision guarantees there will be Māori representation - none of the current councillors identify as Māori.

Rangitāne, as mana whenua, support the establishment of Māori wards.

Deputy mayor Aleisha Rutherford says the vote is a significant step that honours the council's commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

"We have a fantastic relationship with local iwi and have already benefited from the contributions of Rangitāne at committee, as appointed members share their knowledge and expertise in tikanga Māori. This decision gives those on the Māori roll an opportunity to vote for their representation at the next two local body elections."

Since 2020, the council has had Rangitāne o Manawatū representatives appointed to four formal council committees: Rangitāne o Manawatū, Community Development, Economic Development, and Environmental Sustainability. Appointed members have full voting rights at committee, however the Local Government Act does not allow for appointed members to sit as council members.

As the council has resolved to establish Māori wards, a representation review is automatically triggered. It will look at Palmerston North's overall approach to electing councillors by considering the structure of wards, alongside the number of councillors, the names of the wards and whether community boards should be established.

The review will not look at Māori wards but how their establishment affects other representation arrangements.

The Local Electoral Act sets out the calculation that determines the number of Māori ward councillors. The calculation is based on the number of Māori and general electors in the city, related to the number of councillors.

Palmerston North in 2021 (based on the Statistics New Zealand population estimates as of June 2020) is expected to have one or two Māori ward seats depending on the number of total councillor seats in the Māori and general wards.

The representation review consultation is expected to take place in August and cost about $30,000.

One option is a mixed system of at-large seats and Māori and general ward seats. A mixed system would mean a voter can vote for their ward councillors (Māori or general) and for at-large seats.

Last week's vote to introduce Māori wards was split 11-5. In favour were mayor Grant Smith, Aleisha Rutherford, Brent Barrett, Rachel Bowen, Zulfiqar Butt, Vaughan Dennison, Renee Dingwall, Patrick Handcock, Lorna Johnson, Orphee Mickalad and Karen Naylor.

Against were Susan Baty, Lew Findlay, Leonie Hapeta, Billy Meehan and Bruno Petrenas.