Northland Māori wards’ future uncertain as new law kicks in

FNDC's Māori ward councillors with their leaders at Waitangi Treaty Grounds - (from left) Babe Kapa, Hilda Halkyard-Harawira Deputy-Mayor Kelly Stratford, Mayor Moko Tepania, Tāmati Rākena, Penetaui Kleskovic. Photo / LDR

Thousands of Northlanders will face a new political voting landscape at the next local body elections with compulsory Māori ward polling requirements becoming law this week.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown confirmed the new Māori ward legislation was due to come inon Wednesday.

The new rules will mean Northland’s councils must poll their communities at the next election if they want to keep their Māori wards.

Northland ratepayers potentially face thousands in costs for the polls on the less-than-three-year-old Māori wards as a result.

Prominent Māori leader Pita Tipene has warned this new legislation could mean the demise of Māori wards.

Two of Northland’s four councils have already decided to keep their new Māori wards for the next local elections in October 2025 in the face of Wednesday’s law change.

The compulsory referendums will be binding for councils that set up Māori wards without a poll.

Far North District Council (FNDC) has already chosen to keep its Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward, meaning it will have to poll its voters.

Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward councillor Penetaui Kleskovic implored all Northlanders to vote on Māori ward polling at the next local elections.

He said it was important, whatever people’s views, that they had their say and it was crucial Māori voted.

“Vote with your hand and not your mouth. Less hui, more doey.”

He said that – like Three Waters – this week’s law change manifested the previous Government not taking New Zealanders with it when legally removed the need for Māori ward polling in 2021.

Northland became the first region in New Zealand with Māori wards across all its councils, after the 2021 law change.

Once the Māori Wards Bill reverses that legislation this week, councils have until September 6 to formally decide ‘where to from here’ about their Māori wards.

Northland Regional Council (NRC) has also already chosen to keep its Te Raki Māori constituency for the next elections, polling its voters across Te Tai Tokerau as a result.

Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said recently his council was waiting for the law to be passed before deciding on its Whangārei District Māori Ward’s future.

Kaipara District Council Mayor Craig Jepson wants to get rid of his council’s Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward before the next local elections, that dependent on a council-wide decision.

Councils that choose to get rid of their Māori ward before the 2025 elections don’t have to poll their voters.

They will, however, need to hold a mini representation review, before the end of 2024.

If KDC cans its Māori ward, that will mean a new-look ward structure. A change towards potentially fewer councillors could also be part of the mix at that time.

Former Northland Regional Council (NRC) politician John Bain said he was fine with Māori wards - as long as a poll was held.

Bain resigned on the spot from his council in 2020 when it voted to bring in its first Māori constituency without a poll.

Māori ward politicians now make up 20% of Northland’s local government politicians, across four Māori wards.

FNDC’s four Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward councillors are Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, Babe Kapa, Kleskovic and Tāmati Rākena.

KDC’s single Te Moananu o Kaipara Māori ward councillor is Pera Paniora.

WDC’s two Whangārei District Māori ward councillors are Deb Harding and Phoenix Ruka.

WDC Whangārei District Māori Ward councillor Deb Harding. Photo / Susan Botting

NRC’s two Te Raki Māori constituency councillors are Peter-Lucas Jones and Tui Shortland.

Almost 40% of Northlanders identify as Māori, compared with about 17% nationally. That figure climbs in the Far North with 51% of its people identifying as Māori, New Zealand’s second highest percentage (after Gisborne’s 56%).