Hauraki mayor takes swing at Government then reaffirms support for Māori wards

Hauraki mayor Toby Adams, centre, at the council meeting on Wednesday.

Hauraki mayor Toby Adams has taken a swing at the Government after comments made during the Local Government New Zealand conference.

At a council meeting this week, Adams said central Government did not understand how local government worked.

His comments came just before the council unanimously voted to reaffirm its resolution to establish a Māori Ward.

Adams said mayors were given a “big bollocking” at the Wellington conference, and told to concentrate on “picking up rubbish and fixing potholes”.

“They [the Government] are quite happy to take out all the well-beings but [they] do all the stuff they want.

“We are constantly being told by central Government to keep rates down, we are now at the position where infrastructure is aged and needs replacing.

“There are not many nice-to-adds.”

Adams told the council meeting, that from his observations at the conference, there would be “quite a few” councils that resolved to establish Māori wards.

Hauraki mayor Toby Adams.

Parliament passed a bill late last month changing the rules around how Māori wards are established following an impassioned and fiery debate in the House.

This means, to establish Māori wards for the next local elections, councils would be required to hold a binding poll in conjunction with the election.

The outcome of the poll will determine if Māori wards would be in place for the 2028 and 2031 triennial general elections.

Hauraki District Council voted to introduce Māori wards in October 2023.

In June this year, Hauraki District Council received submissions to an initial proposal for the required representation review, to reduce the number of councillors per ward for the 2025 local government elections by one.

This would have brought the total number of councillors to 12, including two Māori ward councillors plus the mayor.

The council also approved the name of the ward, Te Pakikau o te Ika.

Upon the review, the council resolved not to make any changes to the number of councillors.

The final proposal for the representation review was publicly notified and only one submission was received prior to closing on August 7.

Hauraki’s decision follows a recent resolution by neighbouring Thames-Coromandel District Council to establish a Māori ward for the 2025 local elections.