Māori Wards: Govt Putting Racism Before Rational Decisions - ActionStation

Wednesday, 24 July 2024, 11:14 am
Press Release: ActionStation

Advocates from ActionStation say the Coalition Government is putting their political agenda of racism ahead of rational decisions when it comes to Māori wards and local decision making.

The Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill was passed through the second reading during today’s Parliamentary sitting.

The Bill will force the local councils who have already voted to create Māori wards or constituencies to either disestablish the roles or take them to expensive and divisive referendums in the 2025 local body elections.

ActionStation, who have worked towards Māori wards since 2018, say that the Coalition Government is going against common sense and local solutions, in order to push through a racist policy, and have launched a campaign to keep Māori wards.

“There is overwhelming support for Māori wards within local communities. There has been a 1500% increase in councils voting in Māori wards since the requirement for referendums was removed in 2021. The majority of councils have embraced Māori wards and the positive contribution they bring to their communities,” says Kassie Hartendorp, Director of ActionStation.

There have been a number of high-powered critics to the Coalition’s Bill including Local Government NZ stating it is a complete overreach of Government powers. Two in three mayors have already opposed the Bill because of the cost that will need to be footed by ratepayers, the distraction from urgent council matters, and the undermining of the contribution of Māori ward councillors.

An urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing also found that the Coalition Government’s Bill was a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and that bringing back binding referendums would cause division and increased racist rhetoric towards Māori.

The latest amendment to the Māori wards bill was pushed through Select Committee with just five days’ notice, instead of the usual six week process. Despite the short notice, over 10,000 submissions were made, with 63% in support of keeping Māori wards. Some Māori ward councillors spoke of the racist abuse and even death threats that they experienced in their role.

“There is no justification to take us backwards on Māori wards. It’s irrational, irresponsible, and will cause harm to real life people. It also creates more work for our councils who already have their hands full. Many communities have already supported Māori wards, so to force councils to roll them back goes against the principle of locally led democracy.”

Hartendorp says that without a rational reason for this Bill, it exposes the Coalition Government’s intent to push through anti-Māori policies while ignoring the issues that matter most for our country.

“This is the latest in a series of policies purely focused on Māori - the disestablishment of Te Aka Whaiora, removal of section 7AA, limiting Te Reo in public services, removing references to Treaty principles in 40 pieces of legislation and the planned Treaty Principles Bill among others.

“The only logical conclusion you can make is that the Government is prioritising racism over rationality and genuine progress.”

ActionStation have launched a campaign calling on the Coalition Government and local councils to:

• Support keeping Māori wards on our councils
• Ask local councils to commit to keeping Māori representation on their councils, both through Māori wards or other forms
• Call on the Government to prevent racist violence towards Māori ward councillors and candidates in any referendums
• Call on future Governments to commit to supporting Māori representation in local decision-making, including entrenching Māori wards in legislation

ActionStation published a people-powered report in June this year which gathered the experiences of Māori wards from 218 community members.

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