Northland Regional Council to seek legal advice on Māori ward poll

NRC chair Tui Shortland. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland Regional Council deputy chair Tui Shortland is questioning the legality of new Māori ward polling rules as her council votes to keep its Te Raki Māori Constituency for the next local elections.

Shortland’s comments come after the council today voted, by an 89% majority, to keep its first-term Māori constituency for the October 2025 local elections. In a smaller 66% majority, the council also voted to investigate the legality of not polling its people over that decision.

New August 1 Government legislation requires both those things to happen in tandem.

A council that refused to poll as part of keeping its Māori ward would effectively be breaking the law.

“How legal is that law?” Shortland said.

Northland Regional Council meeting, Deputy Chair Councillor Tui Shortland. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown did not respond specifically when asked what he would do about councils that refused to poll, including whether he would throw a council that refused to do so out and replace it with commissioners.

Shortland said replacing a council with commissioners would not apply over the polling requirements. It was more so used around aspects such as financial mismanagement.

Brown said the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill had received royal assent on July 30, meaning it was now law.

Simeon Brown said the Local Government Local Government Amendment Bill had received royal assent. Photo / Michael Cunningham

NRC is one of the first councils in the country to vote on its Māori electoral area after a milestone industry meeting in Wellington last week. An overwhelming majority from among most of the 72 councils and 600 delegates at last week’s Local Government New Zealand’s who attended its closed-door annual general meeting voted to push back against the new legislation’s polling requirements for councils keeping Māori wards.

NRC chair Geoff Crawford, along with Shortland and councillors Jack Craw, Geoff Crawford, Peter-Lucas Jones, Amy Macdonald, Marty Robinson and Rick Stolwerk today voted in favour of the council keeping its Māori constituency for the October 2025 local elections. John Blackwell voted against doing so.

NRC chair Geoff Crawford and Deputy Chair Tui Shortland. Photo / Supplied

Macdonald and Jones in a late move pushed for the council to make investigating the legalities of not holding the compulsory binding referendum part of that for vote.

But this part of the process was instead further teased out so that councillors instead voted separately on the two.

Shortland, Craw, Robinson and Stolwerk supported the push by Macdonald and Jones to investigate the legalities around not polling, in a 6-3 majority.

Crawford, along with Crs Blackwell and Carr did not.

Shortland said the new Government polling requirement was “an overreach on an overreach” on its part.

“Leave local government to local government.”

She said Te Raki Māori Constituency was not racist special treatment.

The constituency’s presence at the next local elections would ensure that the voices of Māori were heard in the partnership with the council that honoured Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Cr Jones, who is NRC’s Te Raki Māori Constituency councillor along with Shortland, said the people of Te Tai Tokerau would have the chance to have their say on the ward via candidates they stood and who they voted for at the time of the 2025 local elections. That was polling or the people expressing their views.

Cr Macdonald said the new Māori wards legislation had been brought in in a rush.

It was important to understand the legal implications of the polling requirement.

Crawford however said polling was an important part of the community being able to have its say on whether or not it wanted the Māori constituency.

There was a difference between the council voting to investigate the legal consequences of not polling and not doing so.

He did not expect the council would be able to defy the Government over the Māori constituency polling.

There were many things councils such as NRC disagreed with the Government over but still proceeded to meet the requirements to carry those out.

“Not polling, against Government direction would start a precedent,” Crawford said.

Where NRC ends up on polling Northlanders about keeping its Te Raki Māori Constituency will affect whether 100,000 voters can have their say at the time of the next local elections on that council decision.

Today’s NRC vote comes almost four years after former deputy chairman John Bain resigned on the spot from the council and walked out at its meeting immediately after the council voted to bring in its first Māori constituency, without polling its people first.

Far North District Council Mayor Moko Tepania recently refused to be drawn on what his council would do about polling at its September 5 decision meeting, which he said would be in favour of keeping the council’s Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward for next year’s elections.

Palmerston North City Council is also investigating the legal implications of not polling over keeping its Māori ward.

Whakatane District Councillor Nandor Tanczos has also asked his council to similarly advice.

Whangārei District Council (WDC) is to formally vote on its Whangārei District Māori Ward on Thursday , this decision likely to be in favour of keeping the electoral area for October 2025. Polling on its Māori electoral area is also required as part of this move under New Zealand’s new August 1 Māori ward law.

Kaipara District Council canned its Māori Ward on August 7.

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.