Local Focus: More Māori at 'top' Taupō table

The decision to establish Māori wards for the Taupō District Council last year has seen the introduction of two new seats for the 2022 and 2026 local body elections.

Taupō Mayor David Trewavas said the community would benefit from the council working more collaboratively with iwi and hapu, including Ngāti Tūwharetoa which owns 75 per cent of land in the region.

"We have a Taupō North and a Taupō South, as it were, and are looking forward to some wonderful candidates coming through to sit around the table - the top table - and make decisions with the council."

Three-term Councillor Tangonui Kingi, a keen advocate of Māori wards, said the wero (challenge) was there for those who want to be involved in local governance.

"Over the years we have been under-represented," he said.

"This allows a pathway, a process, for more whānau to be at that table.

"It's not to say they can't stand in a general seat, but certainly the establishment of the Māori wards gives them an even greater chance of being able to stand and hopefully be successful in one of the two seats."

Trewavas said the council's partnership with Tūwharetoa Iwi would improve as they moved forward together, setting an example for other district councils.

"We've always had a memorandum of understanding which has worked really well," Trewavas said.

"This will just bring us closer once again.

"Both parties have just got such wonderful opportunities, so let's use them.

"The rest of the country looks at Taupō to say what a progressive, modern district we are, and a lot of them are envious.

"I'm pretty proud of how, you know, we've got all this together.

"That's how it all works in the end.

"We all want the best for this place and we love this place," he said.

Māori wards were the subject of much pushback from lobbyist groups including Hobson's Pledge, which gathered enough signatures last year to challenge the council's decision.

Kingi said it was a fairer system and more in line with Treaty of Waitangi principles.

"You need to be at the table to be effective and to have your voice," he said.

"This is an opportunity for whānau to participate as an elected member who holds the same rights and responsibilities as any other elected member in the general ward. Once you are voted on, even though you are voted on through the Māori electoral roll you still represent the whole district.

"There's a need for our whānau to be aware of that and what that means.

"We still do what we do but it's an important consideration, and what they will bring is a Māori-ward view."

Nominations will open later this year for the local government election in October.