Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has a message for Local Government Minister Simeon Brown on Māori ward referendums: “If this is something that you have to see through, then you pay for it”.
A law change in 2021 removed the requirement for councils to hold polls on whether to introduce Māori wards. As a result, a number of councils agreed to establish Māori constituencies for the 2022 local elections.
After the new coalition Government came into power last year, a law change was approved meaning councils that put a Māori ward in place without holding a poll were now required to hold one at the upcoming local body elections or reverse their decisions on the wards.
Only two councils out of the 45 impacted by the change voted against keeping their Māori ward – Kaipara and Upper Hutt voted to scrap the seat.
Newstalk ZB Wellington reporter Azaria Howell told On The Tiles Local Edition many councils were concerned about the cost of holding the referendums.
“There’s this idea that the Government is the one that is putting this cost on to councils and on to local government and requiring this of them so maybe they should be the ones picking up the cost.”
Howell watched the Porirua City Council’s meeting about the issue.
“It seemed like quite a few people at Porirua City Council had that view and I feel like a lot of the debate was whether or not the Government should be the one paying for this rather than whether it is the right thing to do.”
Other concerns included that it was a waste of time and that the policy was racist, Howell said.
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania, whose council has voted to keep its Māori ward, told the podcast he was not prescribing these wards as “a must”. Each council should get to decide, he said.
Tepania said he had respect for most of the South Island councils who had great relationships with their mana whenua and did not want Māori wards.
“But for those of us who do, this is a mechanism that allows us to see through our obligations under the Local Government Act to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori wards are a way of us doing that.
“I understand that the minister has campaigned on this and so is wanting to see it through but if that’s the case, then pay for it. Don’t put it on us to have to pay for it.”
Tepania also urged Brown not to feed into the negative rhetoric that came with the issue.
“Let it be a fair game.”
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has previously said: “We are simply returning the law to what Helen Clark put in place back in 2001″.
“We welcome the public being able to have their say on whether or not these wards should continue at the referendum which will take place at next year’s local elections.
“The Government has required referendums to be undertaken alongside the next local government election in order to reduce costs,” Brown confirmed.
“Councils should not be afraid of asking their constituents what they think with a referendum – the ultimate form of localism.”
Brown added changes to Māori wards did not impact councils’ responsibilities to consult with mana whenua.
Listen to the full episode of the On the Tiles podcast for more from Moko Tepania about whether existing Māori wards will survive the requirement for referendums.
On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.
The podcast is hosted by Georgina Campbell, a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.