Waipā Mayor Susan O’Regan went a step further and said the Government had been arrogant in its approach and had “over-reached”.
“I’m disappointed the Government has come in in such a heavy-handed way - on one hand promoting localism and on the other hand trying to dictate how local communities like ours should be represented. You can’t have it both ways,” she said.
“As it stands, councils, informed by their community, can make decisions about the establishment or not of Māori wards without having to undertake a costly poll. That’s what we did, and that’s what all councils and all communities should be able to do.”
Waipa was one of 45 councils that established Māori wards, or resolved to, since the 2021 law change which removed the requirement for a poll.
The Government directive meant those councils, despite having already consulted with their communities, had two options - reverse the decision to establish a Māori ward or disestablish current Māori wards, meaning there would be no Māori wards for the 2025 election.
If a council did not reverse a Māori ward decision, it must hold a binding poll at the 2025 election, with the outcome of that poll to apply from 2028. A poll for Waipā would cost about $50,000.
O’Regan said she was concerned the bill treated Māori wards differently from other wards, which did not require a binding poll, including rural wards.
She also noted all Waipā councillors, whether elected in a general ward, rural ward or Māori ward, were charged with representing the interests of the whole district, not just one portion of the population or geographical area.
“We got a very clear message from our community in 2021, with nearly 900 submissions received. That is a significant number. It annoys me that our own comprehensive consultation process appears to have been disregarded by people who don’t even live in Waipā.”
The bill confirming the change was likely to be introduced in May.
