Racial tension in final council meeting

THERE was an air of tension at the Rotorua District Council's final meeting when one councillor talked about policies which he labelled racially discriminatory.
Councillor Cliff Lee raised concern at last night's full council meeting over ratepayers paying $40,000 into a fund to encourage the Rotorua District Council to work more closely with the district's Maori land trusts to ensure Maori in the Rotorua region are effectively involved in decision making.
The Te Arawa Standing Committee at its last meeting voted to introduce the fund but Mr Lee said he wanted the matter considered by the full council.
He tried to put a resolution to get the next council to look at the fund and look at information concerning "the council's, the government's and our citizens' responsibility under our Human Rights Act and the United Nations treaty banning racial discrimination".
His concerns by his own admission "fell on deaf ears" after none of his colleagues supported the resolution.
Mr Lee also criticised the Te Arawa Standing Committee for wanting to encourage more Maori participation in local body elections.

"You are picking on an ethnic group. We haven't done that with other groups. We are making an error."
Rotorua mayor Kevin Winters said it was the committee's right to encourage more Maori participation in elections.
Deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell said if successful in getting on to the next council he looked forward to not hearing a councillor using the "race card".
Meanwhile, the councillors voted to let Te Arawa people decide on the structure of the next Te Arawa Standing Committee.
The committee's structure was raised last night after councillor Maureen Waaka raised concerns about the way the committee had voted on its structure.
Mrs Waaka is a member of a working party set up to meet with Te Arawa to get feedback on the structure.
However, the Te Arawa Standing Committee at its last meeting voted to continue with the status quo and that the election of three iwi representatives would be held within 12 months.
Mrs Waaka, who did not vote as she is not a member of the committee, said the vote pre-empted any decision by Te Arawa as they had not had a chance to have their final say.
A hui is to be held with Te Arawa on October 16 and councillors have voted to allow the tribe to consider Te Arawa Standing Committee's vote when making their decision.

At the end of the meeting Mr Winters thanked councillors, the council's chief executive, Peter Guerin, and council staff.
He highlighted some of the council's achievements including the new Energy Events Centre which he said was the envy of New Zealand.
He also noted the more than 25 per cent reduction in crime in the city and the instalment of the first of nine sewerage schemes in Rotorua.
He said his time as mayor had been an enjoyable experience.

He wished councillors all the best for the upcoming election and said if re-elected he looked forward to seeing most of them again

Mr Maxwell, who is also a mayoral candidate, thanked Mr Winters for his leadership.

"Our friendship is strong regardless of the forthcoming results."