Maori line up to be heard

Monday's hikoi showed feelings are running high over the demand for representation. But how this can be resolved to suit everyone is another problem entirely. Photo / APN

Tutira mai nga iwi goes the song. Line up together, people. But which iwi? Tatou tatou e. All of us. But not Te Taou. Kia ka tapatahi. Think as one. But that means only as Ngati Whatua or Tainui. While the Auckland hikoi was a stirring display of solidarity, achieving its ideals is much more complex.

Following the show of strength last week, Dr Pita Sharples is talking about winning rather than losing. "I have to," says the harried leader of the Maori Party.

"If we win this, it will be a major victory. And if we do so, we've got to find a way that the Government can allow it without having to lose a bit of face over it - that's what partnerships are about."

Sharples is referring to Maori seats in the new Auckland super city - seats that were unceremoniously dumped by Local Government Minister Rodney Hide when he announced the grand metropolis plan, but which are now back on the agenda. That's thanks to Prime Minister John Key saying last Monday that "nothing is off the table until the final legislation is drafted".

The slightly ajar door has the Maori party scrambling to come up with a proposal that would be acceptable to National - understood to be just two, rather the previously proposed three, seats. And with candidates required to show affiliation to mana whenua (local Maori with ancestral ties to the land) and voted in by Aucklanders on the Maori electoral roll.

Whether the Government will buy the compromise remains to be seen, but the way ahead is fraught with pitfalls - disputes about who has mana whenua status in Auckland and disaffection by the taura here majority (Maori living in Auckland but with ancestral ties outside the area), no longer able to vote in one of their own.

Sharples glosses over the potential for disaster in favour of the bigger picture - the reality of Maori representation in the country's largest city where before there was none.

"The biggest groups are Tainui and Ngati Whatua in terms of the territory covered. There would be no problem sorting out mana whenua candidates. There will be disputes, but it's not as if we're at war."

Sharples is more concerned about the lack of voice for urban Maori, pointing out that the largest population of Maori in Auckland are from Ngapuhi and other tribes outside the area. "At the moment they don't have representation. It would be good if that could be included - it's part of the talks we're having with the Prime Minister and Rodney Hide."

What if the Government doesn't give an inch and Maori end up with no representation? Sharples says it wouldn't be a break-point in the relationship. "We have to stay in with the Government to get gains for Maori. We've disagreed on some things and we've made some headway on others and we'll continue to get gains, so we're going to stay."

But behind the bravado lies the unthinkable - no Maori seats - and a loss of face for the Maori Party that would be difficult to bear. On the other hand, this Government's disdain for Maori representation seems a monumental insult to a coalition partner. And while Key prevaricates, sooner or later he is going to have to answer a question. Under what circumstances could he see Maori seats being created?

Why should there be Maori seats?

It's the Treaty, stupid. Why the Government chose to ignore the Royal Commission's extensive research and consultation on this matter is difficult to fathom. The Commission concluded there should be three safeguarded seats for Maori - two voted from the Maori electoral roll and one appointed by a mana whenua committee.

Its primary reason was "to give effect to obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi". General considerations of equity and fairness of representation also came into play, said the Commission, but to a lesser extent.

The provision of three safeguarded seats for Maori is also consistent with the spirit and intent of the Local Government Act 2002, which requires local authorities to establish processes for Maori to contribute to decision making.

But Auckland is the most ethnically diverse region in New Zealand. According to the 2006 census 56 per cent of the regional population identified with European ethnic groups, 19 per cent with Asian, 14 per cent with Pacific peoples, and 11 per cent with Maori. The statistics also show both Asian and Pacific groups significantly under-represented in local body politics.

For Pacific health researcher Karlo Mila-Schaaf, of Tongan and Palagi ethnicity, the imbalance doesn't mean there shouldn't be Maori seats. "Many Pacific peoples will naturally support Maori aspirations - we have whakapapa links with Maori as well as commonality of experience, being brown and experiencing relative socio-economic disadvantage," she says.

"Most Pacific peoples have tino rangatiratanga in their home islands and we understand why our cousins here fight for theirs to be acknowledged. Many of us want to support that.

"Two-thirds of Pacific people live in the Auckland region, but we're scratching for representation on city councils. Even in Manukau where we have 86,000 Pacific people, we're scratching to have one or two councillors. Like many other Aucklanders, we don't feel we're being heard by the Government."

Sharples says the Commission's proposal for mana whenua representation by appointment from a committee of all Auckland iwi is now off the agenda. "I'm not against appointing, but they [the Government] are. It doesn't fit with their model of democracy. My model is the end product - who has the voice at the table." He says under the new proposals mana whenua candidates will have to go through a selection process which may involve some sort of electoral college mechanism.

How do urban Maori get a voice?

The 2006 census showed at least 50,040 Maori living in Auckland were Ngapuhi, followed by Ngati Porou (13,215), Te Rarawa (6843) and Tuhoe (5685). Under the new proposal of mana whenua-only representation, these Maori don't get a chance to elect one of their own.

"The reality is we'll take whatever we can get now," says the chairman of the National Urban Maori Authority, Willie Jackson. "So I'm disappointed. I think it would be great if there were two mana whenua seats and two urban Maori seats, actually."

But he says he still supports the mana whenua seats proposal because those elected would have obligations to all Maori - a reference to the concept of manakitanga (the obligation to care for all people within your rohe or area, including taura, here).

"It's almost a repeat of the battles before of urban versus iwi, but we're all a bit more mature now. If they get granted a couple of mana whenua seats, we certainly intend to make it clear they better honour those obligations."

Jackson says Maori seats are essential to our democracy. "It's about Maori being at the table and being heard - and we will not be heard under the current formula. Democracy is about including everyone - it's not just about the tyranny of the majority."

Who are Mana Whenua?

"Our primary and strong recommendation is that the proposed settlement with Ngati Whatua o Orakei not proceed at this stage. Instead, the Office of Treaty Settlements should now work with the other tangata whenua groups to negotiate settlements for them. Once that is done, and not before, it will be possible to arrive at a situation where appropriate redress (both cultural and commercial) is offered not only to Ngati Whatua o Orakei, but to all the tangata whenua groups in Tamaki Makaurau. Then, the mana of all would be upheld, relationships would be restored, and reconciliation would be possible."

So said Waitangi Tribunal Judge Carrie Wainwright in her 2007 report on a bitter dispute over Auckland land claims. The judgment, which stopped a proposed $90 million cash and land settlement with Ngati Whatua o Orakei in its tracks, also validated five other Auckland claims.

"We call them the other tangata whenua groups in Tamaki Makaurau," said Judge Wainwright referring to Ngati te Ata, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Marutuahu (Ngati Paoa, Ngati Maru, Ngati Whanaunga and Ngati Tamatera), Te Kawerau a Maki, and Te Taou.

For the first time in recent years these iwi were acknowledged as Auckland tribes with mana whenua status like Ngati Whatua o Orakei. Judge Wainwright's statements were seen by many iwi as going some way to end the "one tribe myth" about Auckland that had been perpetuated by Ngati Whatua for more than 100 years.

But myths die hard and despite the Waitangi Tribunal report, the Royal Commission fudged the issue: "It is important to state at the outset that the lack of consensus as to which groups have mana whenua status in the Auckland region, and therefore bear the obligations of kaitiakitanga and manakitanga, must not prevent or delay the interests of mana whenua or other Maori being provided for adequately in any governance reforms."

The Commission passed the buck to the Mana Whenua Forum, an iwi-led initiative, supported by the Auckland Regional Council. Maori party MP Te Ururoa Flavell, speaking in Parliament to the Local Government (Auckland Reorganisation) Bill listed 16 Auckland iwi and hapu that should be members of the committee: Te Uri o Hau; Ngati Wai; Ngati Manuhiri; Nga Rima o Kaipara; Ngati Rehua; Ngati Wai ki Aotea; Te Kawerau a Maki; Ngati Whatua o Orakei; Ngati Paoa; Ngati Tamatera; Ngati Maru; Ngati Whanaunga; Ngati Te Ata; Ngati Tamaoho; Te Akitai and Ngai Tai. The notable exception to the list is Kaipara-based Te Taou.

Even Ngati Whatua o Orakei now acknowledges other tribes have interests in Auckland. Its submission to Commission proposed four Maori seats - one from Ngati Whatua iwi, one from the Waikato, and one from the Marutuahu (Hauraki) tribes - "to provide balance among the Greater Auckland iwi". The fourth representative would come from urban Maori.

What about Te Taou?

Judge Wainwright describes Te Taou's experience in the Auckland dispute as unique. "Although they are properly considered as overlapping claimants in the Crown's terms, it is only recently that they have been treated as such. For most of the material period, they were regarded as a disaffected faction of Ngati Whatua o Orakei."

But despite decades of setbacks and rejections - Te Taou is not included in the Mana Whenua Forum and in committees on every council in Auckland except for North Shore City - the tribe is gradually establishing its mana whenua status, separate from Ngati Whatua.

Te Taou has met with Sir Douglas Graham the newly appointed "facilitator", who is trying to do the impossible - resolve Auckland's vexatious Treaty claims. Critical to his success will be resolving the Te Taou problem. But getting Ngati Whatua o Orakei to sit at the same table as Te Taou, let alone acknowledge its autonomy, seems an insurmountable task.

ETHNIC WEIGHTING

* According to the 2006 Census, 56 per cent of the regional population identified with European ethnic groups. In the 2007 local body elections, 84 per cent of elected members were European.
* Maori make up 11 per cent of the region and 9 per cent of local body winners.
* Asians comprise 19 per cent of greater Auckland but hold just 4 per cent of council seats.
* Pacific peoples make up 14 cent of the population. They, too, have 4 per cent of elected local body positions.