Waitakere councillors cool on call for Maori ward

The Waitakere City Council looks set to reject local Maori hopes of a seat around the council table - just days after the release of a film by Mayor Bob Harvey which celebrates the council's partnership with Maori.

"I am very proud of the progress we have made in Waitakere in this regard over the past 12 years and the DVD, aptly entitled Fulfilling the Promise showcases our journey and what can be achieved in local government," writes Mr Harvey in a foreword to the film.

He has sent DVD copies to politicians, community leaders and media.

In the film, Mr Harvey and Waitakere education leader and Maori Party MP Dr Pita Sharples share festive Maori-orientated events in the city and talk of an equal partnership between Pakeha and Maori citizens.

Since Mr Harvey's election in 1992 the council has formed a standing committee called Te Taumata Runanga, which informs the council of Maori views and ensures Maori values are considered in decisions. Two members of the committee are councillors and 10 members are drawn from iwi, marae and pan-tribal groups.

But yesterday, the council's finance and operational performance committee, which includes most of the 14 councillors, rejected Te Taumata Runanga's recommendation that the council introduce a Maori ward or wards. The recommendation had been endorsed at consultation hui.

Councillor Derek Battersby said the move was not necessary because Te Taumata Runanga already gave Maori "a handle on what's going on" and Maori were involved in the council decision-making process.

Deputy Mayor Carolynne Stone said the council talked about active democracy but was not practising it.

A Maori ward was a mechanism for achieving this and it was disappointing "we are not brave enough to try it." She said in her 13 years at council there was no one around the table who one could say was from the Maori community.

Mrs Stone, however, found support for her call for investigating the possibility of appointing two Maori representatives to each of the council's standing committees.

Mr Harvey was not at the meeting but told the Herald last night he was disappointed. "We still have the excellent Taumata but the test will be whether council agrees to their request to be on committees spread across other areas of the council.

"If they don't go with that then I think they are very second rate in their dealings with Maori."

Committee chairman Janet Clews said she believed that councillors, with a couple of exceptions, wanted more time and information to consider an important topic.
Although some councillors may be opposed outright to the principle of Maori Wards, she thought most might want to see more Maori taking part in the democratic process.

Te Taumata Runanga chairman Te Warena Taua and Dr Sharples declined to comment on the committee's rejection of Maori wards.

But the runanga's Te Atatu representative, Melba Wellington, said it was a "pretty sad"decision.

"We want greater powers to be given to the Maori committee. Who does it affect except for Maori? So why can't Maori dictate what happens for them?" She said 14 per cent of Waitakere citizens were Maori. If 5 per cent of electors demanded a poll on introducing Maori wards, it would cost $200,000.