Soraya Peke-Mason said there was increasing genuine interest and understanding of the Māori worldview in local government. Photo / Moana Ellis
More youth involvement, increased genuine interest in Te Ao Māori and the two new Rangitīkei Māori wards are some of the positive changes seen during the local government elections this year.
The two new Māori wards on the Rangitīkei District Council, Tiikeitia ki Uta (Inland ward) and Tiikeitia ki Tai (Coastal ward) received one nomination each, meaning the nominees were elected unopposed.
Soraya Peke-Mason said that was not necessarily a bad thing.
"Kaupapa Māori is collective thinking, and strategic. So there's an element of lobbying that goes on before you consider putting your hat in the ring."
Tracey Hiroa and Coral Raukawa were both already councillors prior to going for the Māori wards.
"In my networks, we all knew they were putting their names up, and we were all delighted."
She said there was an element of collaboration and purposeful consideration that went on behind the scenes, and it wasn't necessarily a case of no one wanting to put their name forward.
Peke-Mason spent 18 years on the Rangitīkei District Council and is now a Labour list MP.
She said there was increasing genuine interest and understanding of the Māori worldview in local government.
"That's happened more over the last six years than ... when I first joined local government around 18 years ago.
"It was quite lonely back then."
She said this included local government embracing the values Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) would bring to the table.
"Particularly around the preservation and protection of our environment and more sustainable business practices."
She said she was also heartened by younger people putting their hands up.
"There's more of that than there ever was and that's very important because local governments make intergenerational decisions which impact everyone's lives, and some of those decisions are irreversible."
Whanganui's seven Rural Community Board candidates Peter Oskam and David Wells (community), Michael Dick, Sandra Falkner, Grant Skilton (Kai Iwi) Bill Ashworth, and Julian (Judd) Bailey (Kaitoke) were also unopposed.
Rangitīkei District Council also has a number of other uncontested positions as the number of nominations received did not exceed the number of vacancies.
These included Jarrod Calkin, Brian Carter (Southern ward), and Lequan Meihana, Charlie Mete, Jamie Nepia and Grace Joan Taiaroa (Ratana Community Board).
Peke-Mason said a potential barrier to wanting to get involved was the $200 deposit needed to stand for council.
"That could be a barrier for a lot of people. That's a lot of money today.
"You may get that back if you receive a certain percentage of votes, but that takes time and you may not have a spare $200 if you're living week to week."
Rangitīkei councillor Elijah Pue said the low rate of nominations was a not new issue.
"It's an issue across the motu and I think that comes down to probably a level of mistrust in the system and people wondering why they should stand for it."
He said to increase community engagement, communities needed to understand what council did.
"So closing that gap so people understand that council does actually play a role in the wellbeing of communities and the overall prosperity of our district, but people just don't get that enough."
He said another key consideration was confidence.
"There's the idea of 'I don't have anything to do with council so why should I stand' kind of thing.
"But actually, the fact you can turn on a tap and drive on a road and put your rubbish out on the kerb every week is all down to the fact there is a council running those services.
Councils did a poor job at showing people it was important to be a candidate, he said.
"If you see your age, values and kaupapa reflected in other candidates as opposed to more of the same type of people standing for these positions, you'd want to vote or stand for council more."
Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said this election he noticed more interest in central government issues.
"There are always going to be local issues people want to stand on and debate and give their view on how local government is performing, but now there is a huge amount of interest in local government's response to national issues."
He said this included things like Three Waters, reform of the Resource Management Act an reforms of education and health.
"It's very different to previous times because government are pushing through a lot of legislation at incredible rates."
He said the introduction of Māori wards was an important step.
"It enables council to make decisions that accurately represent all views and needs," Watson said.