Horizons Regional Council puts Māori wards on hold until at least 2025
Tuesday, 9 March 2021
Māori representation on wider Manawatū’s regional council may not involve Māori constituency, even if the sole Māori councillor is keen to have them in place sooner rather than later.
Horizons Regional Council’s strategy and policy committee voted on Tuesday to have staff investigate what future Māori representation on council may look like in time for the 2025 elections.
Those investigations would involve talking to hapu, iwi and mana whenua about what they wanted Māori representation to be.
The committee was initially only going to receive information about Māori constituencies, commonly known as wards, but asked for more information after a motion by Cr Nicola Patrick.
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She had thought about trying to get the consultation done in time for 2022’s elections, but more time was likely needed.
People were divided on Māori wards so getting information on Māori representation generally was the right approach, she said.
The committee considered the issue in the wake of a law change removing the ability for binding voter-initiated polls to overturn councils wanting to implement Māori wards.
The polls were used in 2018 to overturn Palmerston North City and Manawatū District councils’ decisions to implement Māori wards for the 2019 local government elections.
Horizons voted against establishing the wards in 2017.
Horizons chairperson Rachel Keedwell said the council already had Māori representation on various committees.
Māori wards was not something to rush, she said.
Most councillors who spoke supported getting more information from Māori about what Māori representation at Horizons looked like.
Cr Emma Clarke said there were dozens of iwi and hapu in the region, so having only a few Māori seats could make inequality greater for some groups.
Cr Bruce Gordon supported getting information ahead of the 2025 elections, especially as there was still ill-feeling after the polls in Manawatū and Palmerston North.
“To open the can of worms so quickly, we would be getting so many submissions.
“Going about it in a non-rushed way, so people can think about what it all means instead of a knee-jerk reaction, is good.”
Cr Wiremu Te Awe Awe, the first Māori elected to Horizons when he took office in 2016, said he supported Māori wards.
Māori seats were nothing new – Parliament has had them since 1867 – and Māori leaders he had talked to said they were a good idea, so it made sense to start working on them.
“We can draw it out for 10 years and discuss it until the good Lord comes back.”
It was fine if someone from a different iwi was elected and spoke on behalf of Māori, he said.
“It’s democracy.”
Cr Jono Naylor said he wanted to hear from people on the Māori electoral role, who would be voting in Māori wards.
Those voters may be on the Māori roll to have two votes at a general election, for party and candidate, but may prefer to vote for a general council seat, he said.
“It is not for me to determine how Māori are to be represented at this table.”
According to Horizons documents, two Māori wards would be created if the council kept its current 12 general seats.
There were two proposed ways to divide the seats. In both situations, Horowhenua, Tararua and Palmerston North would be in the southern Māori ward and Ruapehu, Whanganui and Rangitīkei in the northern.
Manawatū would be the outlier, going into either the northern or southern Māori ward.