Māori wards: Ministry takes issue with Waipā council interpretation

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has said communities and councils will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the legislation during the select committee process.

The Department of Internal Affairs has taken issue with reporting of Waipā District Council’s position on Māori wards, particularly the statement: “The Department of Internal Affairs advised individual councils would not be able to submit to the select committee.”

The information is incorrect and a spokesperson for DIA said communities and councils would have the opportunity to provide feedback on this legislation during the select committee process.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown stated this in his response to a written parliamentary question on the topic.

The Waikato Herald put this to the council. In a written response the council said while it had received correspondence from the minister in early April saying submissions would be invited to the amendment bill, it was the understanding of staff following a webinar with the Department of Internal Affairs that individual councils would not be able to submit.

It understood from the webinar that any sector feedback would need to come through the two local government professional bodies, Local Government New Zealand and Taituarā and that was why it was the staff recommendation to the mayor and chief executive of Waipā District Council to confirm its position by writing to the minister.

Council staff thanked the Department of Internal Affairs for clarifying that councils and their communities would be able to provide feedback on the legislation during the select committee process and the council would confirm its position by writing to the Minister.

It said if the timeframe between the draft bill being released for feedback and its consideration by the select committee was too short for a submission to be formally adopted by the council, they would request that the content of that letter also be considered as a submission.