Councillors back Taupō Māori wards decision as lobby group pushes petition
Sunday, 17 January 2021
Taupō has joined the list of districts where a council decision to establish Maori wards has come under fire from lobbyists.
The lobby group Hobsons Pledge, led by former National Party and ACT leader Don Brash, which campaigns against Maori seats, describing it as ‘preferential treatment given to Māori’, is sponsoring flyers in support of a petition to trigger a poll on the decision.
However, councillors in favour of the wards are standing by their original positions and advocating for the public to get informed on the issues.
Hobson’s Pledge has this month also been supporting similar campaigns in Gisborne and South Taranaki.
**READ MORE:
* Group starts petition for poll on Māori ward decision in Taupō
* Majority on Taupō council vote for Maori wards for next election
* Taranaki mayoral forum goes in to bat for Māori ward law change
**
A council’s decision on Maori wards can be overturned if more than 5 per cent of electors (in Taupō’s case 1241 people) request a poll which then results in a ‘no’ vote.
Under current legislation the results of the poll are binding – after the general election, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta stated she wanted to remove the poll provision but no timing has yet been given for a change in the legislation.
Taupō District councillor Tangonui Kingi said a petition seeking a poll in Taupō was not unexpected.
“The current law of the land provides for a community to express their views and this is their way of doing it. It’s not something that I agree with but this is what democracy is – they have the ability to do it. I am sure for every person that says no there will be a person that says yes.”
The lobby group’s aim was fairly obviously to quash the decision, he said.
“I don’t personally agree with that. I think the opportunities that are presented with Maori wards are good for our community, so certainly I will be advocating against what that pledge represents fairly actively.”
Kingi felt the supportive comments from other councillors at the time of the vote on November 23 were “very special and quite unique.”
Councillor Yvonne Westerman, reading from a prepared statement, had said she felt the council stood at a fork in the road.
“We can choose from fear, uncertainty or the status quo, or we can open our arms to cooperation, collaboration and the richness of diversity and collective wisdom that this will bring. We as a council need to ensure that we educate the people of the district on why we support Maori seats.”
On Friday she told Stuff she would reiterate those comments.
Taupō Mayor David Trewavas also spoke in favour of the move in November, calling the seven to three vote a “landmark decision.”
He echoed Kingi’s statement that those seeking a poll had a right to do so, but wanted people to be well-informed.
“We’ll just see how it unfolds, but we could encourage everybody to seek as much information as they can and understand the issues.”
Ngati Turangikutua kaumatua Paora (Jeff) Bennett said he hadn’t seen a flyer or heard much about the petition.
“It’s up to the individual to figure out whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing I guess.”
The Turangi-based hapu worked a lot with council, he said, and wanted to be more involved.
“We realised early on that we needed to be at the table… This is why we favour Maori wards.”
But support from local iwi didn’t necessarily mean guaranteed representation by a member of that iwi.
“With Maori wards of course there are risks for Tuwharetoa because who’s to say that a Tuwharetoa person will be on the ward.”
In May 2018, Hobson's Pledge supported citizens-initiated local body referendums opposing the establishment of Maori wards in a number of local bodies.
As a result Maori wards were rejected in local referendums held in Palmerston North (68.8 per cent), Western Bay of Plenty (78.2 per cent), Whakatane (56.4 per cent), Manawatu (77 per cent), and Kaikoura (55 per cent).
In all five local referendums, the turnout was about 40 per cent.
The Taupō District Council has said the cost of holding a poll would be between $85,000 and $90,000, and, if triggered, would have to be held by May 21.
At the time of the TDC vote two councillors who voted against expressed concern that a publicly-initiated poll of electors, might, by overturning the move, set the introduction of Maori wards back for another two trimesters.
Don Brash of Hobson’s Pledge said he could not give an exact amount spent on the mail out “because it was part of a mail-out to three other districts.”
Signatures were also being collected in Northland, Whangarei, Kaipara, Tauranga, Gisborne, New Plymouth, South Taranaki, and Ruapehu, he said, all areas where councils had decided “to create race-based wards without consulting the community.”