Nelson Māori Ward not recommended to council due to expected public opposition

Sunday, 20 September 2020

Councillors will vote at a meeting on Tuesday, on a decision whether to introduce a Māori Ward for the 2022 and 2025 elections.

The anticipation of a public backlash has resulted in the Nelson City Council being advised against setting up a Māori Ward for the upcoming 2022 and 2025 local government elections.

Consideration for the establishment of a Māori Ward is one of the items on the agenda for an upcoming full meeting of council on Tuesday.

The council staff recommendation against setting up a Māori Ward came after consultation with iwi at an Iwi-Council Partnership Group meeting in June this year.

The report stated while Māori representation (mainly through externally appointed committee members) was fully supported, the establishment of Māori Wards was not supported by iwi.

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In 2011 the Nelson City Council voted to set a Māori Ward, but the decision was voted down in a public ballot in 2012.

This was primarily due to the “high level of negative response” from the community in 2011 and 2012, when a public ballot voted down a decision by council to set up a ward in time for the 2013 local government elections.

Under the current rules if a resolution for a ward was passed, the public has the right to demand a poll to countermand it (if five per cent of electors called for it).

In the 2012 ballot a total of 15,638 votes were received, with 79 per cent voting against the proposal and 20 per cent voting for it.

Māori Ward representation is set up on a proportional basis, comparing the Maori electoral population (3057) with the general electoral population (47,823).

If established in Nelson, this would mean there would be one Māori Ward member on council.

According to the report, iwi did not wish to repeat the experience of 2011, where there was strong opposition to setting up a Māori Ward from public forum speakers, media commentary and voting in the poll.

Instead, iwi recommended council increase Māori participation in the decision-making process through other mechanisms.

Currently Māori have input into council decision-making through representation (from iwi or an external representative) on the Nelson Regional Sewage Business Unit, Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business unit, and the Environment Committee.

Other groups include the Iwi-Council partnership group which was established in 2018, and Te Kāhui Whiria – a dedicated Māori partnerships team who provide cultural leadership to the organisation.