Karakia featured at the start and finish of Kaipara District Council’s (KDC) first official 2025 meeting as nine incoming politicians were sworn in.
Two hundred people packed the Matakohe War Memorial Hall on Wednesday where new Mayor Jonathan Larsen said the district faced a bright future.
Karakia, led by Maungaturoto’s Tawhiri Littlejohn (Te Uri o Hau), returned to the council meeting after being banned from KDC meetings by former Mayor Craig Jepson.
Other Māori tikanga included thundering kapa haka by a combined Dargaville Intermediate and Dargaville High schools group.
Waiata, haka and the national anthem in te reo then English also featured.
Larsen read his oath of office in English then te reo as did new councillor Snow Tane (Te Roroa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua) while Joesephine Nathan (Te Uri o Hau/Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Kahu) read her oath in te reo then English.
Larsen also led singing of Whakaaria Mai.
He is one of the four politicians re-elected for the 2025-2028 term - alongside new Deputy Mayor Gordon Lambeth, Jepson and Rachael Williams - who all voted to abolish the council’s first Māori ward in August 2024.
At Matakohe this week, Larsen said the council would serve the whole community when asked if the tikanga presence signalled a shift in attitude toward the involvement of Māori in the council.
Meanwhile, Jepson said after the ceremonial meeting he had no issue with its karakia and other tikanga in that setting.
He was pleased to see two Māori politicians on the new council, elected through a general ward.
Wednesday’s inauguration was among the last in the country after three recount bids.
The first came from Dargaville’s Snow Tane, sworn in to loud waiata, chanting and haka by his family and Te Roroa after winning 2443 councillor votes, topping his Wairoa General Ward by 1000 votes.
Tane also gained 3117 votes for the mayoralty, just 21 behind Larsen, but was unsuccessful in a recount bid.
He said missing the mayoralty was disappointing but he was looking forward, not back, and eager for the next three years.
Tane said the meeting’s tikanga was a good start.
KDC’s newly sworn-in politicians gained office in one of New Zealand’s most hotly contested local elections.
Kaipara’s 58.4% local election voter turnout was in the top 6% of New Zealand’s 78 councils. Its Wairoa General Ward achieved 61.6% – the highest in Northland.
Four new councillors have been elected to the nine-member top table of Larsen, Lambeth, Luke Canton, Jepson, Nathan, Denise Rogers, Mike Schimanski, Tane and Williams.
Kaipara’s bright future
In his inaugural speech Larsen said Kaipara’s bright future was the result of several factors.
The SH1 northern corridor route from Auckland would bring a four-lane motorway to Kaipara’s doorstep, with interchanges at Mangawhai, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto.
He said this offered major opportunity for Aucklanders wanting to shift out of the city and buy property for as little as a quarter of Auckland prices.
Space for even more housing has been helped by the council’s less restrictive approach to subdivision and development.
About 3655ha of land has been zoned for new rural lifestyle land, and 670ha of is now new residential-zoned land.
Smaller amounts have also been converted to new commercial and industrial land.
Larsen said Kaipara’s economy included thriving and innovative businesses quietly achieving on local, national and international stages.
They included a Maungaturoto company making access ramps for Black Hawk helicopters.
Larsen aimed to set up a business development unit at the council and appoint a business development navigator to help newcomers work through consenting and infrastructure challenges.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.