Majority on Taupō council vote for Maori wards for next election

Monday, 23 November 2020

Public and media interest was high in the Taupo District Council discussion on whether to introduce Maori wards for the 2022 election.

Local body elections in Taupō will include Maori wards in 2022.

In what Taupō Mayor David Trewavas described as a “landmark decision”, the Taupō District Council voted on Monday to introduce Māori wards for the next vote.

The extraordinary meeting rejected the option of holding a poll of electors, with seven councillors to three favouring the direct introduction of wards.

But the decision is not set in stone, as it hasn’t been for other councils around the country, with a poll of electors able to be called for by petition.

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Support for wards in principle appeared unanimous – with two of the three who voted against the resolution, expressing concern that a publicly-initiated poll of electors, might, by overturning the move, set the introduction of Māori wards back for another two trimesters.

Taupo District councillors just before the single agenda item meeting began.

This was a move they didn’t want to see – John Williamson postulating whether through bigotry or misunderstanding some in the community saw Māori wards as a takeover.

This was “nonsense,” he said.

It was about fostering relationships and getting Māori views at the table.

Council senior policy advisor Sue Mavor advised councillors that while there was no certainty around changes signalled by Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta on publicly-initiated polls, she was aware the Department of Internal Affairs was also working on a fix for councils bound by the six-year provision following a countermand poll.

The meeting had been unanimous in an earlier resolution to continue working in collaboration with Māori and iwi to further develop a package to improve Māori representation in council decision-making.

Establishing specific wards was just one part of this – with the single item meeting timed to allow a decision in time for wards in 2022, though, as it had last considered them in 2017, the council was not required by legislation to consider them again until 2023.

Reading a prepared statement, Turangi-Tongariro ward councillor Tangonui Kingi said “supporting the establishment of Māori wards is doing the right thing.”

A change in the national landscape meant Te Ao Māori views were now a far more integral part of strategy and policy documents for central government agencies, he said.

Paora (Jeff) Bennett of Ngati Turangitukua: The environment for change “couldn’t be any more positive than now”.

“We have an obligation as community leaders to support the aspirations of all in our community. I hope we have the courage to do what’s right and to lead our district forward into the future.”

Mangakino-Pouakani ward councillor Kirsty Trueman referred to positive changes like those in education to ensure the teaching of New Zealand history but also the possibility of no Māori representation on the council – despite the Treaty of Waitangi.

If the situation was flipped and Pakeha were in the minority and not represented, she would be voting for that, she said.

“We’ve got [guaranteed Māori representation] at central government, we need it at local government.”

Mayor Trewavas rounded off the discussion with: “The time has come, it’s 2020 … we need to get moving.”

Tuwharetoa were held in high regard throughout the country and especially in Wellington, he said.

Speaking after the meeting, Ngati Turangikutua kaumatua Paora (Jeff) Bennett said the environment for change was positive.

The district council was another area where Māori representatives needed “to sit side by side and make decisions for our community,” he said.

A council media release after the meeting said a public notice would be issued later in the week, advising the right to a poll to countermand the decision if five per cent of enrolled electors (1241 people) demanded it by February 2021.

Any poll would then be held by May 21, 2021.

Under current legislation the result of such a poll would be binding for six years.

Sue Mavor’s report to the meeting noted that the Local Electoral Act’s population requirements would result in two Māori ward members for the council and estimated that any poll, if called for, would cost $85,000 to $90,000 – though would be cheaper if run in conjunction with the local body poll.