Dame Naida Glavish calls for Kaipara mayor to resign

Wednesday, 14 December 2022

Dame Naida Glavish told the Kaipara District Council that ignorance, arrogance and racism would not be tolerated.

Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish says the only way forward following the Kaipara District Council karakia stoush is for the mayor to resign.

The co-chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua delivered a blistering address to the Kaipara District Council on Wednesday morning after she and hundreds of others took to the streets of Dargaville to protest the actions of Craig Jepson, the Kaipara District mayor who instituted a “karakia ban”.

“We will not tolerate ignorance, arrogance or racism. We are here to represent the unborn Ngāti Whātua child. It is our responsibility today … to ensure that tomorrow, our tamariki mokopuna are not facing what we have to face today.”

Talking after the meeting, Glavish said she had wanted to speak “directly to the face of a racist, to give him an opportunity to respond, to which he didn’t bother”.

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Kaipara District Council mayor Craig Jepson.

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Glavish said there was only one way forward, referencing a petition calling for Jepson to stand down which had received more than 6000 signatures.

There had been cross-cultural support at the march held before the meeting, she said, with some Pākehā holding signs in support of tino rangatiratanga and karakia.

“I began a campaign in the 1970s that ended in 1984, just for the right to say kia ora on the toll exchange.

Councillor Pera Paniora’s desire to start a meeting with a karakia was rejected by newly elected mayor Craig Jepson on November 30, causing uproar in the community.

“Having come from that, and the kōhanga reo, and our reo all over the country … to get to 2022 and have this racist person deny the right to a karakia, I'd like to try to understand what makes people like him tick.”

She said Ngāti Whātua did not need the mayor’s permission to do what needed to be done according to its own tikanga and aspirations.

In a response delivered later in the day, Jepson acknowledged the peaceful protest and the depth of feeling shown by those who presented at council.

“I thank Dame Naida Glavish and the other iwi representatives for speaking to council this morning,” the statement from Jepson said.

“I fully intend to honour the agreements we have with our mana whenua and have constructive dialogue with all groups, including Māori.”

When protesters marched on council chambers, Glavish pointed out that the new council had not yet met with Ngāti Whātua.

She said the previous mayor had enjoyed a relationship with Ngāti Whātua.

“I started by thanking our kai karakia this morning, and we honour anyone who honours our reo, because in the reo is a blessing,” Glavish said.

Karakia was not just a prayer but an incantation from the atua, Glavish said, that could not be denied by any person.

Glavish said Ngāti Whātua were here long before the council and would be here long after.

“So have your day in the sun, it will not last. Have your day in the sun to deny us our right, because the doctrine of discovery is long over. Long gone.”

The karakia battle began when the newly elected mayor repeatedly shut down Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora’s attempts to begin the council's first meeting since the local body election with a karakia on November 30.

Jepson said the following day he would be continuing with his approach of not having karakia at the start of meetings, effectively implementing a ban on a 25-year tradition that began with the council’s first mayor, Graeme Ramsey.

Jepson’s reasoning at the time was that councils should be secular, multicultural and respect everyone, which meant karakia were not appropriate, he said.

He later walked back his decision following an 'open and frank' meeting which resulted in a compromise where each councillor would take turns in opening and closing meetings with a karakia, affirmation, prayer or reflection of the day.

When Stuff spoke to Paniora at the time, she said she attempted to compromise with Jepson to have karakia reinstated. In response, the mayor questioned her whakapapa, she said.

“He [Jepson] said: We’ve got non-Māori, we’ve got someone with Nordic ancestry, and I said: But Māori are the indigenous people of this country and we have a treaty,” Paniora said at the time.

“He said: Well I feel very indigenous – how Māori are you?”

The protest was organised by Omamari resident Paturiri Toautu, 53, who was a candidate in the Kaipara District Council’s Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward this year.

“The issue at hand goes deeper than just the karakia, for it is about power, control and domination, and excluding basically all tikanga Māori in formal council proceedings,” he said.

'This issue is in essence about equality and partnership between the Māori and Pākehā communities as according to the Treaty of Waitangi, and treating us as equals.'

Toautu said all protesters were asking for was respect for tikanga Māori values and customs.