Overwhelming support for M¯aori ward in Wellington

Wellington City Council has received overwhelming support for establishing a Ma¯ori ward from next year, with 94 per cent of submitters backing the idea.

City councillors agreed in principle in March to establish a

Ma¯ori ward feedback.

That feedback attracted 189 responses, with 177 in favour of the proposal and just 12 opposed.

The additional ward will be included in time for next year’s local body elections, and comes after councillors also agreed two weeks ago to establish iwi voting rights on all but one council subject to public committee from July.

The push to establish a Ma¯ ori ward for Wellington came following changes introduced through the Local Electorate Amendment Act this year.

The changes mean council decisions to establish Ma¯ori wards are final, scrapping a system that allowed residents to call for a binding poll that could overturn those decisions.

A council paper that will be discussed by councillors on Thursday listed several reasons people supported the proposal.

They included honouring the Government’s commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, increasing Ma¯ ori representation on the council, and providing the Ma¯ori community with a voice in local decision-making. Reasons given for not supporting the proposal included that it was not necessary, it would be separatist, and concerns that the lack of a binding poll undermined local democracy.

According to council figures, Wellington City has a total electoral population of 206,800. The Ma¯ori electoral population stands at 9400.