Local Communities Support Māori Wards (again!)
Local decision-making is essential to daily life. The way our local council is made up, and who we elect to represent us makes a difference to how decisions get made.
In 2021, local communities pushed for the then-government to break down discriminatory barriers and make it easier for Māori wards to be established, and to strengthen local democracy. This was a solution to Māori being underrepresented in local councils across the country.
Yet once elected, the Coalition Government decided to reverse the progress made, and force councils who had established Māori wards to either get rid of them, or take them to a divisive, and costly referendum.
Picking up from our Māori wards campaigning in 2018, we revived the community groups who pushed Labour to change the law and level the playing field for Māori to be elected onto councils. We launched a report to Protect Māori Wards which found that whole communities benefit from Māori ward seats, by strengthening relationships with local iwi and improving disaster recovery responses. Importantly, they help to rebalance historical injustice - one councillor was the second ever Māori councillor to be elected in 100 years! All made possible by Māori wards.
Despite zero notice time, and just five days to submit to the Select Committee - 6,746 of us made submissions in support of Māori wards. Which made up 63% of the submissions overall. 49 out of 78 councils had already voted for Māori wards through their own community consultation processes. Two thirds of mayors and council chairs wrote an open letter opposing the proposed legislation, and the Waitangi Tribunal found that the legislation breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and would likely reduce Māori representation on councils.
With a mountain of evidence and popular support for keeping Māori wards, the Coalition Government still chose to forge ahead. Yet even when they forced councils into an impossible ultimatum, the majority of councils stood strong to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 43 out of 45 councils reaffirmed their support for their Māori wards amid waiata, haka and celebrations from local communities. This was a huge win!
It showed that even when local communities are threatened by a government driven by ideology, rather than evidence or Te Tiriti obligations, huge numbers of us will still stand on the right side of history. Councils were asked to trample on their relationships with local Māori, and yet many of those relationships came out stronger in the face of such a challenge.
But this issue is far from over. The crunch point will be in local body elections in October 2025, when 43 councils will be forced to run referendums on whether they retain their Māori wards. We may even see a showdown when a number of councils pursue legal advice to refuse the referendums.
We will be running a national campaign in 2025 with local communities who will be organising to keep their Māori wards. We invite anyone to reach out if you’d like to connect up. Take action by emailing info@actionstation.org.nz.