Council welcomes peaceful marchers

The head of Kaipara District Council has welcomed assurances that next week’s march will be peaceful, and says the council respects people’s right to protest on any topic.

The response comes after newlyelected Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson banned karakia at the start of council meetings, sparking plans for a protest march through Dargaville next week.

The marchers are due to arrive at the Northern Wairoa War Memorial Hall just ahead of Wednesday’s council meeting.

Chief executive Jason Marris said council meetings were open to the public, but there was limited space inside the meeting room itself.

Anyone who couldn’t fit inside the hall could follow the meeting online.

All meetings were livestreamed for public viewing and can be found on Kaipara District Council’s YouTube channel.

“Council respects the democratic right for people to protest on any topic, and we’re pleased it is a peaceful protest,” Marris said.

March organiser Paturiri Toautu said the march would leave Dargaville Countdown at 8am on December 14 and make its way to the hall on Hokianga Rd by 9.15am, ahead of the 9.30am council meeting.

He urged participants to protest peacefully and invited them to bring placards and Māori flags.

Toautu said the aim was to “protest the disrespectful manner in which the current mayor of Kaipara treated our Māori Ward candidate Ihapera Paniora, and our Māori community as a whole”.

He said karakia had long been used to open council proceedings, so Māori regarded the ban as “a sign of deep contempt for our values and customs”.

The last major protest against a Northland council occurred in June 2021, when more than 2000 people marched on the Far North District Council chambers in Kaikohe over plans to designate swathes of private land as “significant natural areas”.