Brash in town to halt wards
Their numbers were few, but their intentions were clear.
Twenty or so Palmerston North Ma¯ ori ward supporters greeted Don Brash when he turned up in The Square on Wednesday afternoon.
A similar sized group turned out to back the Hobson’s Pledge lobbyist’s call for a poll on the Palmerston North City Council decision to adopt Ma¯ ori wards for the 2019 local body elections, and passed around petition forms.
In the morning Brash had been in Feilding gathering signatures to overturn the Manawatu¯ District Council’s declaration for Ma¯ ori wards.
While Brash said there weren’t all that many people about in Feilding, ‘‘quite a number’’ had signed the petition.
‘‘Almost all the people we approached wanted to sign, including a number of Ma¯ ori,’’ he said.
There were also about a dozen signatures from Palmerston North people on the city version of the petition who happened to be in Feilding for the morning.
‘‘I’ve not approached anyone who has rejected the petition. We were prepared to engage in dialogue. We wanted to talk to people about the issues and we’ve done that,’’ Brash said.
Pro ward district councillor Hilary Humphrey said ultimately it was up to the community to decide, and not be dictated to by a former party politician.
Opposing district councillor, and Brash’s Feilding host, Andrew Quarrie said having use a petition to defend what he called the status quo was ‘‘back to front’’.
‘‘Those wanting to change the status quo [in favour of wards] should be the ones having to promote a petition. This has been forced on people in Manawatu¯ without consultation,’’ Quarrie said.
Feilding Maori committee Nga Manu Taiko chairwoman Cr Alison Short believed a person elected to a Ma¯ ori ward would bring a ‘‘Ma¯ ori worldview’’ to council decision-making, while the district council had stepped up its statutory obligations to honour the Treaty of Waitangi.
In Palmerston North, Margarita Kento said supporters assembling at the statue of Te Peeti Te Awe Awe disrespected her Rangita¯ ne forebear.