Victoria Del La Varis-Woodcock was among seven Kaipara District councillors who voted in favour of introducing a Maori ward. Photo / Susan Botting
Victoria Del La Varis-Woodcock was among seven Kaipara District councillors who voted in favour of introducing a Maori ward. Photo / Susan Botting
Another territorial authority in Northland has voted by an overwhelming majority to introduce a Māori constituency from the next local government election.
Seven Kaipara District councillors, including mayor Jason Smith and his deputy Anna Curnow, voted in favour of the new constituency while two abstained during the council meeting yesterday.Councillors Victoria Del La Varis-Woodcock, Karen Joyce-Paki, Mark Vincent, Eryn Wilson-Collins, and David Wills were the others who voted in favour.
They were in favour of a KDC staff recommendation that the constituency be introduced.
Jonathan Larsen and Peter Wethey abstained from voting.
The Northland Regional Council last week voted 7-1 in favour of Māori constituencies, prompting Cr John Bain to resign on the spot and walk out of the meeting chamber.
The Far North District Council will vote on the issue at its meeting today and the Whangārei District Council on November 3.
Of the 20,760 people living in Kaipara, 3630 or just over 14 per cent represent the Māori electorate based on the latest census.
There are about 64,460 Northlanders who identify as Māori among the region's 180,000 population. About 36 per cent of Northlanders identify as Māori, compared with 16.5 per cent nationally.
The public may demand a poll on the matter if at least 5 per cent or about 790 of Kaipara electors sign in favour of it.
Any demand for a poll must be received by KDC February 21, 2021, otherwise the council must then conduct a representation review to incorporate the Māori ward into the district's representation arrangements.
A representation review is a formal process that takes into account aspects such as population growth and distribution, community boards, ward names and number of elected members.
If a poll is conducted at an estimated and unbudgeted amount of $30,000, it needs to be completed by May 21, 2021.
Māori ward cannot be included in the 2022 and 2025 local government elections if the poll results are contrary to the KDC decision and the council cannot then revisit the option of establishing the constituency for a further six years.
Should a Māori ward be introduced either by way of a KDC resolution or a poll, it must remain in place for at least the two triennial elections in 2022 and 2025.
In the absence of a poll, the Māori electorate population by ward will consist of 1160 in Dargaville, 960 in West-Coast Central, 790 in Otamatea and 720 in Kaiwaka-Mangawhai.
KDC's iwi partners, Te Roroa and Te Uri o Hau, were consulted prior to yesterday meeting.
Kaipara District councillors have voted with an overwhelming majority for a Maori ward to be introduced. Photo / Tania Whyte
If councils ultimately introduce a Māori ward, candidates in future elections have an option to stand for that ward or in a general ward.
Candidates must be registered parliamentary electors. However, Māori ward candidates do not need to be on the Māori electoral roll, provided they're on the general electoral roll, and vice versa for candidates standing in the general wards.
Regardless of which roll an elector is on, an elector only has one vote (either for a Māori ward or a general ward).
Every five years, electors have the opportunity to change from being on the general electoral roll to the Māori electoral roll or vice versa.
