No Māori ward for Christchurch City Council

Tuesday, 2 February 2021

Christchurch City Council will not establish a Māori ward for the next elections.

The idea was floated with the iwi and mana whenua in October, but the local authority was comfortable with the current relationship, a council spokesman said.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced sweeping changes to a “racist” law on Māori wards on Monday​.

Some councils, like Wellington City Council, have already made moves to establish Māori wards just a day after the law changes took effect.

**READ MORE:

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* Government dumps law threatening Māori wards, halts petitions

**

Similar to Māori parliamentary seats, Māori wards establish areas where those on the Māori electoral roll vote for representatives who sit alongside general wards.

Christchurch City Council head of community support, governance and partnerships John Filsell said it had decided against establishing a Māori ward after consulting with iwi and Papatipu Rūnanga (Ngāi Tūāhuriri as mana whenua) in October.

“Papatipu Rūnanga were comfortable with the current relationship and did not feel that it was appropriate for a Māori ward to be established in Ōtautahi-Christchurch for the 2022 local elections,” he said.

Christchurch city councillor James Daniels, who is also Ngāi Tahu, said from he understood mana whenua – Ngāi Tahu – to be “reasonably comfortable with the relationship already”.

There were also several senior members of staff offering a strong Ngāi Tahu presence in council, he said.

Mana whenua represented Māori, and it was their decision whether a Māori ward was needed.

“My understanding is there has been no great push for it at this stage.”

But he felt it was a wake-up call for the country to consider how discriminatory local government had been to Māori in the past.

“It’s a really interesting time in the development of our nation, really.

“From where I sit, it looks like it’s reasonably healthy, but this change will bring a new view on all of this.”

University of Canterbury School of Māori and Indigenous Studies senior lecturer Garrick Cooper, who is not mana whenua, was not surprised a Māori ward was not called for in Christchurch.

He understood Ngāi Tahu had its own relationship directly with the council, possibly invigorated by the earthquake rebuild.

“There is a view within some Māori communities that [Māori wards are] not necessary.

“I think [removing legislation barriers is] a good thing, after not being able to get adequate Māori representation on a range of councils across the country.”

It was a little different in Christchurch, where the iwi had a “fairly active, ongoing relationship with the council”.

That could be due to its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or it could be driven by economic clout, he said.

“The council can’t afford to ignore Ngāi Tahu because they’re the biggest organisation in the South Island.”

But he did not think council’s responsibility to Māori ended at whether it established wards or not.

“If it really subscribes to democratic principles, it has to be comfortable that its makeup is representative of the communities it serves.”

Te Maire Tau, Ūpoko of Ngā Tūāhuriri, said the papatipu rūnanga (mana whenua for Ōtautahi/Christchurch) preferred negotiating clear outcomes through its Treaty relationship with the council.

“I’m not convinced that representation leads to outcomes we need.”

Māori wards were about addressing matters of race representation, but did not necessarily empower iwi relationships, he said, and papatipu rūnanga had committees with each council to have mana whenua issues addressed.

It had, for example, negotiated with Waimakariri District Council to get better water and sewerage services to Tuahiwi.

Treaty partnerships were clearer in the south, with the one Treaty partner, he said.