Maori warden organisations need to be united and independent of state control, so says Te Reo Hemi, chairman of local wardens' group Nga Watene Maori O Whanganui.
However, the treasurer of Wanganui's other Maori wardens' organisation, Carol Te-Huna, says until the groups are united, the control and funding should stay with Ministry of Maori Development/Te Puni Kokiri.
The uniformed wardens are volunteers who park cars and provide security at functions and, in Wanganui, they also patrol city streets on weekend nights to keep people safe. There are more than 1000 Maori wardens in New Zealand and 56 in Wanganui.
Mr Hemi is the chairman of one of Wanganui's two groups, Nga Watene Maori O Whanganui, with 14 warranted wardens. Ms Te-Huna is the treasurer for Whanganui Maori Wardens, which has 42 warranted wardens. She's also on the New Zealand Maori Wardens' interim executive.
The wardens in Wanganui split into two groups in 2011 over a personality clash, Ms Te-Huna said. She said it was "a small speed bump" and the groups were trying to get back together.
Mr Hemi remembers how warden groups were funded and controlled in the 1980s and 1990s, when each came under one of 16 districts in New Zealand, with the New Zealand Maori Council as umbrella body. That could still work, he said, but it would need to be properly resourced.
Ms Te-Huna said the Maori Council didn't do anything for the wardens.
Both said Parekura Horomia and Winston Peters got money for them from government. That was distributed by a wardens project team within Te Puni Kokiri/the Ministry of Maori Development.
Ms Te-Huna said the money was used to provide resources, training and uniforms for wardens on the ground. But it caused conflict between the two groups.
"Nobody wanted to know us when we had no money. The minute we got some putea - money - everybody wanted to know us," she said.
Mr Hemi didn't like the way the Te Puni Kokiri project group gave out money. His group only got some funding in July after "a lot of pushing and shoving".
"I believe that's where a lot of our problems are. They're assuming they know what's best for us without consulting," Mr Hemi said.
He was told the project group would not fund two groups in the same town.
The national situation is somewhat similar, with groups battling for control. Ms Te-Huna said the groups needed to unite and agree.
Until they did that, the money was best administered by Te Puni Kokiri.