Māori wards election question labelled race-baiting
It’s been labelled race-baiting, but an advocate for Māori representation believes a question for New Plymouth District Council candidates about their views on Māori wards is a good one.
As part of their work to encourage voter participation, district council staff sent candidates in September’s election a series of questions for its ‘‘ Know Your Candidates’’ webpage.
Along with whether they supported rates rises, the proposed Three Waters reform and whether the council was doing enough to address climate change, candidates were asked if they supported a Māori ward.
Māori wards have been introduced in all Taranaki councils for the first time this year, following years of campaigning.
The issue will not be reconsidered for at least another five years, leading to prominent representation campaigner and former New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd labelling the question race-baiting.
But Puna Wano-bryant ( Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Awa) who led the charge to get wards, welcomed the question.
Although she said some Pākehā may view it as race-baiting, knowing the candidates’ views on the wards would inform her vote.
If candidates did not support Māori wards, where would they stand on issues such as ‘‘changing street names, Māori community development and Te Atiawa buying the Atkinson Building and changing the name’’, Wano-bryant said.
Of the eight mayoral New Plymouth candidates, four supported Māori wards, one did not, one gave a neutral answer and the other two ignored the question.
Judd posted on his Facebook page that asking the question was ‘‘race-baiting our community’’.
‘‘Because the decision has been made. It only serves to divide us and only gives a platform for antiMāori rhetoric.’’
The Cambridge Dictionary defines race-baiting as the act of intentionally encouraging racism or anger about issues relating to
race, often to get a political advantage.
The Māori ward issue has been hugely divisive in the New Plymouth district in the past.
In 2015 a citizens-initiated referendum stopped the ward happening, but last year a campaign to launch another referendum on the issue failed through lack of support.
Judd, whose popularity plummeted when he backed Māori wards as New Plymouth mayor in 2015, said he wrote to Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta on Monday night about the question.
If the council wanted to know what people think about wards, why didn’t they ask about all wards, he said.
‘‘Bell Block is a new ward. They didn’t ask what people felt about that.’’
The council’s marketing, communications and design lead Ben Kohlis said they had included the question because Māori representation had been a hot topic of discussion for many years.
‘‘It is just as important for some voters as is rates, climate change and support for local businesses – which we also asked.’’
He disagreed it was racebaiting, saying 45 of the 48 candidates for mayor and council answered the question, and the majority supported a Māori ward.
‘‘Less than half of registered locals voted in 2019 and one of the main reasons is that they don’t know who the candidates are or where they stand on key issues affecting us all. So, this year we asked them, and you can see their answers on our Know Your Candidates webpage,’’ Kohlis said.
The webpage had more than 13,000 views on Monday – the highest number of page views on the website for 12 months.
The council is no stranger to taking unexpected approaches to drum up publicity around election time. In 2019 it spent $30,000 on an award-winning campaign that used a poo emoji - with the slogan ‘Give a s..t, vote today’.
‘‘It only serves to divide us and only gives a platform for antiMāori rhetoric.’’ Andrew Judd