Smoothing the path for Māori wards pleases many in Manawatū regoin

Tuesday, 2 February 2021

Wiremu Te Awe Awe chairs a meeting of the RangitÄne o ManawatÅ« committee of the Palmerston North City Council.

Palmerston North and Manawatū councils could resolve to have Māori wards in the 2022 local body elections.

Changes to the Local Electoral Act proposed by Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta would remove the obstacle posed by the outcome of binding polls in 2018.

Those polls had been demanded by 5 per cent of voters in the city and district, overturning decisions by both councils, and meant the Māori ward option could not be re-visited until after next year’s elections.

The new legislation would lift that prohibition, allowing councils to resolve to establish wards by May 21.

* Rangitāne invited to join Palmerston North council committees

* Rangitāne speak up in support of Māori wards

Though welcoming the proposed removal of what Mahuta described as an “almost insurmountable barrier”, civic leaders are hesitant to rush in.

Since the referendum, the city council has formed a joint Rangitāne o Manawatū committee, appointed three Rangitāne representatives to standing committees, and has signed a kawenata or agreement on working together, initially on the restoration of Motu o Poutoa, Anzac Park.

Rangitāne o Manawatū committee chairman Wiremu Te Awe Awe said the law change was great, providing a level playing field for both Māori and non-Māori.

He said in Palmerston North the most important thing was the good relationship between Rangitāne and the mayor and councillors.

For places where there was not such a strong relationship, a Māori ward would hold greater significance.

Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith said the joint committee was more important in his eyes than any ward.

“Relationship is where we have put the effort.”

Smith said he personally supported Māori wards, but was not sure it was worth the aggravation of trying to introduce one so soon after 70 per cent of voters demonstrated they did not agree.

Deputy mayor Aleisha Rutherford, who spear-headed the council’s defence of its earlier resolution to set up a ward or wards, said her support for it would continue.

“Māori wards honour our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and our iwi appointments and Rangitāne o Manawatū committee honour our partnership with iwi. They serve different purposes and are both essential.”

Appointee Ruma Karaitiana said he was not certain Palmerston North needed to rush to set up a ward given the success of the relationship established through the council committees.

His colleague Danielle Harris said it would be good to have both.

“I pay homage to our relationship with the city council. We did not wait for an Act of Parliament to establish our Treaty relationship.”

Don Esslemont delivered the petition that forced a poll that stopped a MÄori ward being set up in Palmerston North.

But she said the abolition of the poll provisions would help iwi around New Zealand who did not have such good relationships with their council, and also ensure all Māori had a voice at the council table, not just local iwi.

“To have both would be stronger than one or the other.”

In Manawatū, mayor Helen Worboys said the council would expect iwi to take a lead in any decision on whether to have another attempt at setting up a Māori ward.

The council had a longstanding forum with tangata whenua called Ngā Manu Tāiko, which would discuss the issue next week.

She said the debate had been divisive last time, and she wanted to know what iwi thought before making any decision.

Palmerston North resident Don Esslemont, who presented the petition that forced the 2018 poll, said he was worried about the backlash that would come from creating an electoral system based on race.

“A high proportion of the people I mix with are very scathing about the people they now call ‘them’, meaning Māori.

“I think the movement in favour of Māori representation, whether in council wards or appointments to committees, is provoking a kind of backlash.”