Partnership debate continues

The Rotorua Pro Democracy Society held its first information session last night. Photo / Ben Fraser

The debate over the controversial Te Arawa Partnership Model continues, with the Rotorua Pro Democracy Society hosting its own information and debate sessions.

About 50 people attended the first Rotorua Pro Democracy Society information session last night at the Ngongotaha Hall, with about 40 people attending the tenth and final Rotorua Lakes Council information session on the proposed partnership at Lynmore School earlier that evening.

The council meeting was led by Strategy and Partnerships group manager Jean-Paul Gaston.

Rotorua Pro Democracy Society co-founder Reynold Macpherson emphasised the group was not anti-Te Arawa or anti-Maori.

"We are not anti-Te Arawa and we are not anti-Maori but we are pro democracy.

"Te Arawa Maori and Maoridom broadly have not been consulted. This is an agreement by a small group of people."

The society has a 14-member committee, which includes district councillors Mike McVicar, Rob Kent and Glenys Sereancke, who introduced themselves to the group.

Committee member Blanche Kingdon said, "I am afraid to say I am one quarter Te Arawa but I am definitely pro democracy."

Mr Macpherson told the group the society had plans to march to the submitter hearings in purple colours.

"We will march at the hearings in a mass, a colourful mass, and our t-shirts will be chosen because it's the colour of power in ancient Rome. Purple is also the colour of Rongopai, the Christian peace that came to New Zealand with the missionaries."

The model proposed by Te Arawa was approved "in principle", and for consultation purposes only, by the council with a majority vote of 10-3 in December. The proposal could see the establishment of an iwi board outside of the council structure to replace the former Te Arawa Standing Committee.

Te Arawa would appoint or elect a board of up to 14 people with two representatives - with voting rights - to sit on the council's Operations and Monitoring Committee and on its Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee, with one on the Chief Executive Performance Committee and another representative on Resource Management Act hearings panels.