The Pākehā who became the face of a movement to give Māori a voice at the council table

Friday, 20 November 2020

Andrew Judd was pilloried in his community for his mayoral stance on Māori representation at council in 2014. But his campaign is beginning to bear fruit.

In 2014, Andrew Judd was abused and spat at in the street by people who opposed his stance on giving Māori a distinct voice at the council table.

Back then, he was the elected mayor of New Plymouth, a job he only held for one term as his political aspirations became a casualty of the flak he faced for his stance.

During his time donning the mayoral chains, the optician experienced a major metamorphosis in how he saw tangata whenua, which involved reflecting on his own prejudices.

The personal upheaval was heavily influenced by his interactions with iwi and the historical realities revealed to him about the poor treatment dished out to them by the Crown.

Andrew Judd's life changed when he owned his racist thoughts and embarked on a crusade to promote Māori representation.

* Call for citizens' referendum hours after Māori ward established in New Plymouth

* New Plymouth councillors vote to establish Māori ward

Judd, pictured here in 2016, was a one-time New Plymouth mayor but his mark is still being felt in the council chamber years later. (File Photo)

It was a history Judd didn’t know about, and it got him thinking. A lot.

“I also realised I need to be the pou (post) and delve into my own racist past.”

The result has been life-changing for Judd, who still refers to himself as a “recovering racist” despite his continued commitment to champion Māori representation.

He’s spent countless hours travelling and talking on the topic with church groups and communities around the country, since he left the council office for the last time in 2016.

He stopped counting when he reached 350 speeches.

“I still feel I am doing what I was elected to do. You don’t need a title to be an active citizen,” he says.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has said she will look to scrap the section of law which allows for decisions around Māori wards to be overturned by a referendum. (File Photo)

It’s ironic a Pākehā, middle-class male has become the face of the debate, which continues to rage across New Zealand council chambers.

This year alone seven councils have voted in favour of establishing a Māori seat in time for the 2022 election, including the New Plymouth and South Taranaki district councils.

The latest to tackle the issue was the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, who this week voted five to three in favour of holding off on a decision in order to allow for more consultation.

However, even when councils decide to bring in a Māori ward, it can be challenged, thanks to a section of the Local Electoral Act, which allows for a referendum to be held if five per cent of electors want one.

Former New Plymouth mayor, and representation advocate, Andrew Judd comforts councillor Sam Bennett after the vote to establish a Māori ward was passed in July this year. (File Photo)

If the poll result comes out against a ward, the council decision becomes void.

Judd believes the law is a tool of colonisation and needs to be erased from the statute books once and for it.

He tried to make headway to do that in 2016, but the petition he tabled in Parliament fell on deaf ears.

Four years later, he is heartened by Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s intention to remove the section of law, but believes its needs to be made a priority.

2020 is a year of déjà vu for Judd, in the wake of the choice New Plymouth district councillors made in July to bypass community consultation and set up a Māori ward in time for the 2022 local body election.

The decision will stand, unless it is overturned by a citizen-initiated referendum, which is exactly what happened when the council was under Judd’s leadership.

New Plymouth deputy mayor Richard Jordan voted against a Māori ward motion as he wanted the public to have their say first. (File Photo)

After an earlier vote in 2014 by councillors against iwi representation or voting rights, it moved to establish a Māori ward in September, which led to the immediate resignation of councillor John McLeod, who called the result separatist.

However, a petition was launched, which instigated a poll, and 83 per cent of people voted against it.

It remains a possibility this time around too, with a petition being actively circulated in New Plymouth in a bid to put the issue to a binding referendum.

The organisers, which include New Plymouth District councillor Murray Chong, have until February 22 next year to get the necessary signatures.

An online petition, seeking support for a Māori ward, is also underway, set up by Rongomou Community Action, which Judd is affiliated with.

A challenge is always possible regarding the South Taranaki District Council (STDC) decision to follow New Plymouth’s lead.

Earlier this month, STDC decided to introduce a Māori ward in time for the 2022 election.

New Plymouth MP Glen Bennett, who organised the 2016 Parihaka peace walk, says Judd's stand was pivotal to the Māori ward debate in the city. (File Photo)

Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) and Stratford District Council have kicked the issue to touch for at least three years before it comes up for consideration again.

Judd says he understands the fear and politics around the decision to support a Māori ward so when he heard the news about STDC’s unanimous vote, he was overwhelmed “with joy”.

The June 2016 peace walk to Parihaka was the idea of Judd to move away from division to unity.

But New Plymouth deputy mayor Richard Jordan says the community should have had a say on the Māori ward issue before one is put in place, which is why he voted no in 2014 and again this year.

His boss, mayor Neil Holdom, abstained from the vote in July, which raised some eyebrows.

When asked why, Holdom said he could not, in good conscience, vote against a Māori ward but it had been a mistake not to seek feedback from the public, something iwi wanted.

Jordan says his no vote, on both occasions, was for the exact same reason.

He believed it was imperative the public have input into the decision as part of the democratic process.

Jordan says now the decision has been made, he will back it, but thinks it’s a step too far for council to lobby for law change about removing the poll provision, as proposed by Mahuta.

While aware of the current petition looking to invoke a poll, Jordan had no interest in its outcome.

“It’s totally out of the district council’s hands.”

Charlotte Littlewood is an elected Taranaki Regional councillor and backs Māori wards. (File Photo)

Glen Bennett, MP for New Plymouth and part of the newly elected Labour caucus, backs colleague Mahuta’s stance on the law change.

Before joining politics, Bennett helped organise the 2016 peace walk to Parihaka, the brainchild of Judd who hoped to move the conversation away from division to unity, in the wake of the backlash he faced.

The 44-kilometre hīkoi from New Plymouth to the south Taranaki settlement attracted 500 supporters, including former Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy, who praised Judd, saying his efforts would “go down in history”.

In Bennett’s opinion, Judd has been a pivotal in moving the debate about Māori representation in a positive direction.

“The fact he was a Pākehā, male, mayor who was saying what had to be said – definitely he was a big player in where we are today,” he says.

“I think as a community we have moved forward and I think the conversations have deepened.”

One thing which somewhat disappoints Bennett, is that people took notice of a white male, rather than Māori, who have been calling for better representation for decades.

“It gladdens me, and it saddens me, that it takes someone like Andrew Judd to be the face and voice to challenge the legislation.”

But the messages being pushed by Judd about equality appear to have resonated with the wider community, he says.

“I realise we've come a long way in six years. The angst and anger and the push back against the Māori ward is different this time, it’s not the same.”

In August, TRC delayed consideration of a Māori seat for at least three years, after the majority of councillors wanted more time to seek input from iwi.

It currently has three iwi representatives who sit on the policy and planning, and consents and regulatory, committees.

TRC councillor Charlotte Littlewood, who put forward the Māori ward motion at August’s meeting, credits Judd’s stance as being part of a wider change regarding how representation of tangata whenua is now seen.

“I think the New Plymouth vote six years ago certainly raised it in the public consciousness,” she says.

“I think there’s also been a shift in society and understanding of Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) and the importance of what the Treaty means and things like that.

“Andrew Judd was one part of that shift.”

However, Judd refuses to accept the tag of being any sort of trailblazer.

“You have to make a conscious decision to do what’s right, or look away,” he says.

He’s aware of his critics, which include the likes of Don Brash from Hobson’s Pledge, a group which campaigns against what it considers to be preferential treatment given to Māori.

But it’s important to Judd to be able to talk to people who don’t agree with him, rather than just preaching to the converted.

“I care for those people too, that’s where I came from.”

He has yet to turn his mind to how he will feel if New Plymouth council's latest decision to set up a Māori ward is challenged again.

“Either way I’m prepared for the work to continue.”

On Tuesday, November 24, the Taranaki Regional Council policy and planning committee will consider endorsing the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) position to support the removal of the poll provision related to the creation of Māori wards under the Local Electoral Act 2001.