Ma¯ori ward only path to democracy
The lengths one must go to be heard can be a telling barometer of power. Our children must raise their hands for one teacher to listen. Our leaders need only open their mouths near a microphone to reach the nation’s ear.
When representatives from 12 marae filled the public gallery of the Manawatu¯ District Council chamber on May 6, a unified endorsement of a proposal to establish ama¯ori ward, there would have been hope and expectation for progress.
There would have been an expectation that an authority lawfully charged with promoting opportunities for Ma¯ori to contribute to local government decision-making, would grasp the one in front of them, just as nearby councils in Palmerston North and Rangitı¯kei already had.
There would have been the expectation of being listened to.
But it would appear the voice and vote of 7062 individuals who opposed Ma¯ori wards in a binding poll in 2018 was still ringing in enough ears around the table for the issue to be sidelined until 2023.
Though there is majority support for Ma¯ori wards among the elected officials in principle, more time is apparently needed to educate the public that Ma¯ori interests in the district are better served by having Ma¯ori representation; as if selfdetermination as a concept is a difficult sell.
Perhaps the value of rangatiratanga is difficult for Pa¯keha¯ to appreciate; we have always had authority over our own affairs and do not know what it feels like to lose it.
Councillors Heather Gee-taylor and Andrew Quarrie opposed Ma¯ori wards outright, as it did not fit their definition of democracy – one person, one vote, the pure equality of the status quo – which does not work.
It is difficult to see how the Manawatu¯ council – which has no Ma¯ori representation and, as of yesterday, no iwi advisory committee – can fit any other definition of a democracy.
Engagement, diplomacy and respect are nice to haves but they are not power. Democracy is the assurance tangata whenua has at least one seat at the table.
The New Zealand Government awoke to this in 1867, when it introduced guaranteed ma¯ori seats in Parliament.
That was over 150 years ago, yet the Manawatu¯ council wants another two years and another local body election to slip past with amiserable likelihood of any Ma¯ori representation.
Mayor Helen Worboys and deputy mayor Michael Ford even made the argument Manawatu¯ marae would struggle with the workload of introducing ama¯ori ward for next year’s election, on top of Treaty claims, amid numerous calls from the gallery that yes they could.
Surely no further evidence is needed to show that 11 Pa¯keha¯ speaking forma¯ori is not where any local body authority should be, not this year or in two years’ time.
When members of the newly formed iwi collective Te Ko¯tui Reo Taumata and supporters march through Feilding this morning, they will again – with urgency – seek to be heard, and demand the council acknowledge their right to a political voice.
There may still be 7062 people who oppose a Ma¯ori ward in preference for ‘‘one people’’ homogeneity. But Manawatu¯ is not a monoculture and the district council should not ignore that.