h-member-login

MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER  header call 
Melody sales@mangawhaifocus.co.nz 021454814
Nadia n.lewis@xtra.co.nz 021677978
Reporting: Julia news@mangawhaifocus.co.nz 0274641673
 Accounts: Richard info@mangawhaifocus.co.nz 021678358

 

Archives

Govt decision to remove Maori seat poll option welcomed

 

 

thumbnail Maori seats the vote (01) - 20201020-348Northland Regional Council (NRC) Chair Penny Smart has welcomed news central government will remove an ‘outdated, unfair’ law that allows referendums to overturn councils’ plans to establish dedicated Maori seats.

Currently five per cent of electors can petition for a binding referendum on plans by local authorities to establish Maori seats, but Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta announced on February 1 the law will be scrapped in time for the local body elections next year.

The NRC had twice late last year written to government asking for the government to remove an ‘unfair anomaly’ that allowed just 5 per cent of electors (in NRC’s case about 6000 people) to call for a poll and urging it to address the situation promptly.

News the council can now proceed with its plans to introduce a Maori seat or seats in the 2022 election without the threat of a costly and time-consuming poll driven by opponents of the move has been ‘very warmly received’ by council collectively.

The central government decision means the only way dedicated Maori seats would not happen in Northland now would be if the council itself reversed its decision, something Chair Smart says is ‘highly unlikely’.

The NRC and its Whangarei and Kaipara District Council counterparts all plan to introduce the seats at the next local government elections.

Chair Smart says given more than a third of Northland’s population is Maori, the proposed law change will enable the council to strengthen the existing Maori-council partnership.

“As I’ve said previously, a move to dedicated Maori seats will enable council to better reflect Maori values, issues, priorities and aspirations as they relate to council roles and functions and help us better reflect the needs and aspirations of our entire community.

“This supports council’s commitment to work in partnership with Maori in a way that honours the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and reflects the people of Northland, working together for a thriving region.

“For Maori, it enables a way to be part of important decision-making at the council table.”

The council reiterated Maori elected to a designated Maori seat or seats will sign the same oath as other councillors.

“At the decision table they will represent and make decisions for the good of all Northlanders, not just tangata whenua,” says Chair Smart. “All councillors – non-Maori and Maori alike – are elected to make democratic decisions using robust, well-considered information.

“This means as elected representatives we must all come to the decision table with no pre-determination, willing to listen, contribute to good debate and then support the outcome of the vote.”

While councillors did not wish to comment in detail on efforts by some to force a poll on the NRC’s plans, collectively they are pleased a poll would no longer happen and the ‘outdated and unfair’ law that allowed for it would be changed.

With the Minister’s announcement, the NRC will now need to develop an ‘Initial Representation Proposal’ setting out the proposed new constituencies, names and boundaries by the end of August this year. This would be followed by a period of formal consultation, including the opportunity for public submissions. There would then be a further objections/appeals period before a final determination would be made by the Local Government Commission by early April in 2022. That determination would then apply to both the October 2022 and 2025 Northland Regional Council elections.

 

Councillors cast their votes in favour of establishing dedicated Maori constituencies in October last year. PHOTO/FILE

“This supports council’s commitment to work in partnership with Maori in a way that honours the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and reflects the people of Northland.”

- Penny Smart, NRC Chair
 

Removing petition right undemocratic and racist says group

Advocacy group Democracy Northland say they believe the proposed intervention by the Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, to remove petition rights under Parliamentary urgency is undemocratic and racist.

Democracy Northland was founded on the principle that in a representative democracy every voice should be heard and every vote is equal. For the Minister to trample on the rights of the thousands of people who have already signed the petitions is disgraceful and a dark day in New Zealand they say.

A group spokesperson says they are disappointed central government has intervened in a local democratic process, and predicts the many thousands of people who signed their petitions to force their councils to hold a binding referendum on the establishment of Maori wards will also be outraged.

“The number of people signing the petitions has exceeded our expectations, for all three councils,” says group leader John Bain. “We have been overwhelmed by the support. For the Whangarei District Council we have received 149 percent of the required number of signatures, 150 percent in Kaipara and 130 percent for the Northland Regional Council. These are very significant numbers, some 13,114 signatures in total to date, and we expect to receive many more ahead of the February 21 close-off date.”

Bain says that many of the Northlanders they have spoken to over the last two months do not want Maori wards on local councils – and for the very same reason they do not want the Maori seats in Parliament. They want New Zealand to be a team of five million, united by the things we have in common not divided by our differences.

Democracy Northland will continue with the petition as the law has not yet changed.

With their right as voters to have a binding referendum on the issue of Maori wards taken away, the group feels it is left with only one option which is to campaign against the councillors who supported the wards.

“We thank the community for their incredible support,” adds Bain. “Democracy Northland is not going away. The extraordinary act by Minister Mahuta has energised our supporters and made us even more aware that we need to take a stand if we are to protect the democratic rights that generations of New Zealanders have fought for.”

 


 
ABOUT US
  CHECK IT OUT
The Mangawhai Focus is the only 'Mangawhai' community Newspaper and is the paper of choice within the local area.

For more information on distribution and circulation please 
click here
 

Directory

Archives

Contact Us


 

 

 

FOLLOW US

facebook   twitter   174855-378

CONTACT US


Sales: 021 454814
  sales@mangawhaifocus.co.nz
Editorial: 027 4641673
  news@mangawhaifocus.co.nz
Office: 021 678357
  info@mangawhaifocus.co.nz