Govt feels burn on Ma¯ori wards
A New Plymouth District councillor has said a presentation to the Government calling for an overturn of Ma¯ori ward legislation was ‘‘a beautiful occasion’’.
Petitions with 11,000 signatures were handed over at Parliament yesterday to get rid of laws, branded ‘‘racist’’, that make it nearly impossible for Ma¯ori wards to be established.
Councillor Dinnie Moeahu was among the group of about 50 who took part. He was one of the 12 councillors who voted in favour of establishing a Ma¯ori ward for the New Plymouth
District Council earlier in the year, and said the handover was a ‘‘beautuful occasion’’ and a step in the right direction.
‘‘It wasn’t just Ma¯ori there – there were non-Ma¯ori there, tamariki there. There was a real diverse representation of our community, all in support.’’
The two petitions want changes to local government legislation that throw Ma¯ori wards at the mercy of binding referendums. Once a council creates Ma¯ori wards, the decision can be overturned by a referendum triggered by five per cent of voters.
No other wards – such as the rural wards – can be stopped by public polls. The petitions asked that Ma¯ori wards be treated the same as other wards.
The new Government has already signalled changes are coming this term, but the petitioners were keen for fast action.
Moeahu said society had come a long way since the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) voted in a Ma¯ori ward in 2014 that was later overturned.
People were starting to gain a better understanding of the Ma¯ori ward issue and the benefit to the community, he said. ‘‘There is a clear mandate for this [petition] to change the legislation.‘‘
Councillor Sam Bennett, who drove the NPDC decision and was also at Parliament, said it was heartening to see a strong contingent from Taranaki.
‘‘It was really humbling to witness, I suppose, history in the making.’’
Toni Boynton, of Te Ro¯pu¯ Tautoko Ma¯ori, one of the groups that organised the two petitions, said Parliament was where the rules came from, but councils were where ‘‘the fire hits the hangi stones’’.
‘‘Why not include the voice of people who have lived on the land for a thousand years?’’
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta said she backed changes to the law but would not give a timeline for
those changes. ‘‘We’ve only just resumed sitting back at Parliament and have our new mandate. I’ll certainly put the issue to Cabinet, and when they make their decision you’ll know about it.’’
She said she understood there was a need for some urgency with the changes. It was a priority for her.
At least nine councils around New Zealand, including New Plymouth and South Taranaki, have made decisions on Ma¯ori wards recently. These decisions could be overturned by referendums, if triggered.
According to the petitioners at Parliament, eight out of the nine referendums held over the past two decades have overturned Ma¯ori wards.
The petitions were handed over to Labour MP Ta¯mati Coffey, who said the rules were discriminatory and racist.
‘‘The fact that you can set up a rural ward and a community board, but the second that ‘Ma¯ori’ word kicks in, and the guards are up, and suddenly [it’s] – ‘launch the petition’.’’