Councillor turns back on waiata ahead of vote on iwi seats

Wednesday, 26 August 2020

Wellington City councillor Sean Rush says he meant no disrespect by turning his back on a waiata during a heated council debate on whether to give iwi voting rights.

Rush took the action as seven councillors sang a short waiata after a move from councillor Jill Day to request a vote on establishing iwi seats on council committees.

Rush took objection to the move because it fell outside the scope of Wednesday’s council paper, which was to review the electoral voting system for the next two elections.

He immediately raised a point of order after the waiata finished, arguing the vote should not go ahead.

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Rush said after the meeting he did not realise the councillors were singing a waiata, but listened to most of it before turning around in his chair to gather his thoughts.

“My understanding of a waiata is it is a bit more formal, performed by mana whenua and so on,” Rush said.

”It was not a gesture designed to be disrespectful to mana whenua or Māori culture.

“It was certainly something that happened in the heat of the moment, when I had a number of thoughts on my mind that I wanted to articulate correctly.”

Mayor Andy Foster agreed the vote would be outside the scope of the paper, and stopped it from happening.

But Day had prepared for that scenario, and immediately tabled a notice of motion requesting council officers report back by October on the next steps for establishing iwi seats by July next year.

The motion had already obtained the required five signatures, and was eventually accepted by the council after Foster called for a short break.

Rush said he was not opposed to establishing Māori seats, and called Day on Tuesday night to express his support for the council formally investigating setting up a Māori ward.

However, he was not in favour of iwi members being appointed rather than elected.

“Appointing people in an unelected capacity to a committee of any designation because of who their family is, I think needs to be tested.”

In her initial comments, Day also revealed she had received insensitive comments from some of her fellow councillors on Wednesday morning about the amendment she was planning to move.

“I respect that councillors may have different opinions, and I’ve heard some of those over the last few hours, and some of them have been expressed to me in a way that is not easy to take.

“Badly-placed comments can cause great harm and offence, and be remembered in the years to come. How do you want to be remembered in history?”

The waiata was sung by Day and fellow councillors Tamatha Paul, Teri O’Neill, Jenny Condie, Laurie Foon, Fleur Fitzsimons, and Rebecca Matthews, who stood and gathered on one side of the council table.

The motion has been signed by the majority of councillors, but Foster said he was undecided about whether he would add his name to the list.

He earlier said he would sign the motion.

Council officers now need to report back to councillors by October on options for putting the changes in place. Those would then go to a councillor vote.

It will mean a representative from each of Wellington’s two iwi – Te Āti Awa Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Toa Rangatira – is appointed to all of the council’s committees and subcommittes by July next year.

They will be paid and have voting rights, but will not have voting rights at meetings of the full council, which can overturn decisions made by council committees.