Ashburton to vote against Māori ward poll challenge

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Ashburton may not have a Māori ward, but that hasn't stopped councillors weighing in on the national debate.

The Ashburton District Council plans to vote against a remit this week from Local Government NZ that would challenge the Government's new Māori ward polling rule.

The Ashburton District did not consider adding a Māori ward during its representation review as it is one of a dozen councils that did not have a sufficient Māori electoral population, less than 5% of the general voting population, to qualify for a Māori ward.

New legislation requires councils that established Māori wards without a referendum to now decide whether to keep their ward or get rid of it.
If they wish to keep their Māori ward, the council must hold a binding poll at the 2025 local body elections.

Minister of Local Government Simeon Brown said it put an end to the divisive changes under the previous Government and gave the choice back to communities.

However, the new policy has been met with opposition with local leaders set to debate the topic at the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) conference in Wellington this week.

Two of the eight remits being considered by LGNZ members relate to Māori wards.

Members will vote on whether local government constituencies and wards should not be subject to referendum and the entrenchment of Māori wards seats for local government.

The remits were discussed at the Ashburton District Council meeting on Tuesday, with the councillors voting not to support either of the remits.
Councillor Richard Wilson said it should be “one person one vote”.

“I don’t support picking our democracy by race.

“Everybody in this room represents everybody in the district regardless of race, creed, social background, everything.”

Councillor Tony Todd said the Government is allowing communities to have a say on Māori wards.

“It was during the last government, where Minister [Nanaia] Mahuta changed the rules and in my mind she was the one who overreached and brought it on to councils only to make the decision.

“It should be a community decision whether we have Māori wards or not.”

A majority of the councillors voted not to support the Māori ward referendum remit.

There was a unanimous vote not to support the remit on the entrenchment of Māori wards.

Todd said a Government should not entrench anything into law.
Wilson agreed, saying it should be up to the Government of the day to make decisions because things can change over time.

Ashburton has also pushed a remit for ‘graduated driver licensing system’, which would provide greater testing capacity in key locations throughout New Zealand.

The council also voted to support three other remits: Giving local government greater power to stop the deterioration of empty buildings; appropriate funding models for central government initiatives; and GST revenue sharing with local government.