Council and chamber unite in favour of Māori ward

Wednesday, 7 August 2024

Palmerston North city councillors speak on the question of whether to put Māori wards to a referendum, or abolish them altogether, following new legislation.

Palmerston North’s Te Pūao Māori ward is here to stay for the 2025 city council elections.

Mayor Grant Smith and 14 councillors voted unanimously in favour of retaining the ward on Wednesday. The vote was forced by a recent law change.

They were supported by a full public gallery, many people with placards urging them to vote “yes” for Māori representation, and five public speakers.

Massey University politics professor Richard Shaw said Palmerston North had put Te Ao Māori world view at the heart of the city.

There were no losers in having a Māori ward, but everyone would lose without one, he said.

Speaker Kevin Campbell said the law change was “pernicious” and he apologised to Te Pūao councillors, Roly Fitzgerald and deputy mayor Debi Marshall-Lobb, for the “indignity” of the process it had prompted.

A full public gallery urged Palmerston North city councillors to retain the Māori ward.

Cr Karen Naylor proposed that the council ask for more information about the implications of refusing to hold a referendum on the future of its Māori ward at the 2025 election, and the council agreed. The referendum would cost up to $60,000 and would be binding for the 2028 and 2031 elections.

Cr Naylor said councillors had taken an oath when they took office to act in the best interests of the community.

“I did not anticipate the Government would be asking me to vote in such a way that opposes what I believe is in the best interests of the community.”

Naylor said the referendum process would be divisive, and costly not only financially but socially.

Te Pūao Māori ward councillor Roly Fitzgerald thanked people who supported retention of Palmerston North City Council’s Māori ward.

Cr Rachel Bowen seconded her call, describing the requirement to have referendum as dangerous and disrespectful.

Councillors William Wood and Orphee Mickalad were hesitant to explore the possibility of such civil disobedience.

Wood said he understood his colleagues’ frustration, but feared the consequence of refusing to comply with the law could see the council dismissed and commissioners put in place.

Mickalad said that would take away from the democracy the council was trying to defend.

Smith said councillors had also taken an oath to uphold the law, but he saw no harm in asking for more information.

Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith calls for a unanimous vote to retain the city council’s Māori ward. The councillors obliged.

He urged councillors to have faith in Palmerston North voters, and not be afraid of having to run a referendum if that was required.

He said Palmerston North was different to a lot of cities and districts in its long history of Māori and non-Māori working together.

It was one of only three councils to feature tangata whenua on its city crest, and the only one to proudly display it.

Smith said the “outsiders” who had helped sway the demand for a poll to hold a referendum in 2017 that overturned the council’s proposal to set up a Māori ward would be spread too thin to cause disruption if 43 councils were asking their electors to vote on Māori wards at the same time.

All of the councillor comments were in support of the Māori ward.

Lorna Johnson and Pat Handcock said the law change was part of a series of anti-Māori actions coming from the coalition Government.with Brent Barrett describing it as “outrageous”.

The unanimous vote brought everyone in the council chamber to their feet to sing the Māori waiata Te Aroha.