Contrary to high-profile lawyer Mai Chen’s argument for the rūnanga that there should have been a consultation process, Justice Campbell said in his December 18 decision that no precedent was created by the KDC’s past practice to require this.
“The council has consulted only once in the past on a Māori ward question.
“This was not a practice that was settled in the sense of being ‘regular and well established,” Justice Campbell said.
“It therefore did not create a legitimate expectation that the council would consult with the same iwi or hapū on the decision whether to retain or disestablish the Māori ward.”
Justice Campbell said even if that expectation had arisen, the consultation that might have taken place could have been excused because of the urgency created by the August 1 legislation changes – under which the KDC abolished its Māori ward.
The one-off KDC consultation with Te Uri o Hau and Te Roroa happened in 2020 when the Māori ward was set up.
Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson would not comment on the High Court ruling.
“I will need to take time to consider the decision,” he said.
The KDC is the only New Zealand council to get rid of its existing Māori ward, doing so a week after new government legislation on August 1 enabled the change.
Jepson said after the council made its decision that he rejected “the notion that Māori must have a designated ward to ensure representation”.
The council’s Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward will not exist at the next local election in October 2025. The political line-up will drop from 10 people to nine – eight councillors and a mayor – across three rather than four wards.
Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward, through councillor Pera Paniora, represents 3880 people.
Paniora said she respected the High Court’s decision.
“I also personally feel there was some strength in challenging this decision because no other council in the country disestablished its ward.”
She also said the only other council in New Zealand that had considered ditching its Māori ward had backtracked after seeing the furore in Kaipara.
“They did not want to be likened to this council.”
KDC chief executive Jason Marris said the Māori ward constituents would be absorbed into the 2025 Wairoa, Otamatea and Kaiwaka-Mangawhai wards for the next local elections.
In the October elections, the KDC’s 27,680 electors will be voting for three politicians in the Wairoa Ward, two in the Otamatea Ward and three in the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward.
Marris said the court action came at a significant cost to the council. It had spent $180,000 defending the case.
Marris said the council’s consultation was undertaken in a compressed timeframe but it still followed legislative requirements.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
