Maori wards fairer, says Feilding archdeacon

Anglican Archdeacon Reverend Wendy Scott is voting yes to Maori wards.

Anglican Archdeacon Reverend Wendy Scott is voicing her support for Maori wards.

Rev Scott is supported by members of the Anglican Parish at Oroua in Feilding.

"The Maori voice is a voice worth hearing," says the archdeacon, who is Ngapuhi and Pakeha.

"For those who live on the other side of the fence, it's not a fair shot.

"Maori wards are a fairer representation, it is not a separatist component."

Rev Scott says voting yes is about justice.

"Maori are underrepresented in local government. If representation was more equal then we would have fewer other inequalities, like Maori overrepresented in prison statistics and poor health.

"No communities will thrive while these inequalities remain."

Rev Scott said the law that allowed these referenda was unjust.

"Only in the case of Maori wards — not rural wards or other types of wards — can citizens call a binding referendum.

"This discrepancy makes Maori representation even more difficult to achieve, and it makes voting yes to Maori wards all the more important."

■The Salvation Army, ActionStation, Groundwork: Facilitating Change, Te Muka Rau support the "vote yes" and the United Nations Human Rights Committee has called for "special electoral arrangements to rectify low Maori and Pasifika representation in local government".