Napier council rejects Hobson's Pledge Trust claim of Māori seats division

A protest earlier this year as councillors were considering their positions on Maori Ward processes. Photo / File

A nationwide lobby group which opposes specific national and local government Māori representation has surprised Napier's councillors by claiming they are divided on the issue of Māori seats at the council table.

The claim is made in a newsletter emailed to Hawke's Bay Today by Hobson's Pledge Trust on Wednesday.

But Mayor Kirsten Wise confirmed her council of 12 members, each representing one of four locality-based wards, has never discussed the issue, and Hobson's Pledge could not have known their views.

"We haven't voted yes or no at any stage," she said, reaffirming that the council's debate to date had been only on the timing – meeting a deadline in time for next year's Local Elections or going with a 2024 review for implementation the following year.

It voted unanimously to go ahead with consultation this year on whether to introduce Māori wards, as a prelude to a full representation review in 2024 for implementation in three years' time, a course being taken by about half of the city, district and regional councils throughout the country.

Napier had introduced a full wards structure at its last review, in time for the 2019 election, doing away with a split wards and at-large representation, and proposes that if Māori wards are introduced there will be two seats.

A close council observer told Hawke's Bay Today that despite the council having had three Treaty of Waitangi workshops since May it was possible some councillors' views on Māori wards were not yet known to other councillors.

Hobson's Pledge, which opposes such wards and is pushing for the city to call for a referendum on the issue, says in its newsletter: "We think that it is possible that if enough people ask for a vote the council could put this out to the people of Napier to decide.

"The Napier City Council is divided on the issue and heavy lobbying is coming from Māori ward proponents," the group said.

Wise confirmed the number of responses from the public has passed 500, which could numerically represent more than 2 per cent of eligible voters.

The submissions were to close on Friday, September 10, but the period has been extended to September 17 to cater for people who may have had difficulty making submissions during the Delta lockdown.

The mayor said in a media release on Thursday: "If you're unsure what Māori wards are about, I encourage you to visit our consultation website where you can find all the background information you need to help you with your submission. You can also view the community hui, which we had to hold online because of Covid restrictions."