Te Uri o Hau chairman Ben Hita says the hapū is planning to lodge a formal written complaint over the Kaipara mayor’s karakia ban. Photo / Susan Botting
Te Uri o Hau chairman Ben Hita says the hapū is planning to lodge a formal written complaint over the Kaipara mayor’s karakia ban. Photo / Susan Botting
Opposition is mounting to Kaipara council’s karakia ban with a protest march planned in Dargaville and Tai Tokerau iwi demanding a meeting with the new mayor.
The march will make its way through town to the venue of next Wednesday’s Kaipara District Council meeting. Local hapū Te Uri o Hauis also planning to lodge a formal letter of complaint.
The controversy began when newly elected Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora attempted to open the council’s November 30 meeting in Mangawhai with a karakia [prayer/blessing].
She was shut down by Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson, also freshly elected, who said the council had members of different religious convictions and ethnicities, and he intended to run a secular council that respected everybody.
A testy exchange followed with Paniora later using her maiden speech to recite the karakia and sing a waiata with supporters joining in from the public gallery.
The karakia ban, which overturns a tradition at the council going back almost 25 years, has been criticised by iwi and the Race Relations Commissioner.
Jepson is, however, standing his ground. He told Local Democracy NZ he had been inundated with calls, text messages and emails from around the country supporting his decision.
Dargaville resident Paturiri Toautu is organising a “peaceful protest march” through the town on December 14, leaving Countdown at 8am and making its way to the Northern Wairoa War Memorial Hall on Hokianga Rd where the council is due to meet at 9.30am.
Those who couldn’t join the march at the start could instead meet outside the hall by 9.15am.
Toautu said the aim was to “protest the disrespectful manner in which the current Mayor of Kaipara treated our Māori Ward candidate Ihapera Paniora, and our Māori community as a whole”.
He said the custom of using a karakia to open council proceedings had long been respected by previous mayors and councillors, “so our people regard what happened as a sign of deep contempt for our values and customs”.
Paturiri Toautu is organising a march through Dargaville to protest the 'disrespectful manner' in which Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora was treated. Photo / supplied
Toautu, who also stood for election in Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward, urged participants to protest peacefully and invited them to bring placards and Māori flags.
Meanwhile, Te Uri o Hau chairman Ben Hita said the hapū had resolved to lodge a formal written complaint with the council.
“I felt the kaupapa was not well conducted. He [Mayor Jepson] needs to sit down with somebody and understand the dynamics of both sides.”
New Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson is sticking to his guns over a karakia ban at council meetings. Photo / Tania Whyte
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua chief executive Alan Riwaka said a number of iwi in Te Tai Tokerau were considering what action to take.
“They’re all of the same feeling as us and Te Uri o Hau that this whole thing is pretty disappointing. From my perspective it’s nothing less than racism dressed up as democracy,” he said.
“One of the things that stood out for me was that he pointed to respecting the rights of his councillors. All I’d say is: Why did you not respect the rights of councillor Ihapera Paniora? I think it’s poor leadership and quite disrespectful of things Māori.”
Iwi members would be encouraged to take part in the protest march but Ngāti Whātua’s immediate plan was to meet with the mayor and councillors.
“We already have agreements in place with the likes of Kaipara District Council so why aren’t they respecting them and maintaining traditions that have been in place for a number of years now? With the previous mayor this was never a problem.”
Riwaka hoped to use the meeting to not only express the iwi’s disappointment but also to encourage the mayor and councillors to reflect and review their position.
“It’s not too late to change it,” he said.
Ngāti Whātua chairwoman Dame Naida Glavish went a step further, saying members of the Iwi Leaders Forum would meet with Jepson — whether he wanted to hui or not.
