Some of the 250 people who turned out to watch WDC’s Māori ward decision outside Te Iwitahi civic centre in Whangārei, where the voting took place. Photo / Susan Botting
Some of the 250 people who turned out to watch WDC’s Māori ward decision outside Te Iwitahi civic centre in Whangārei, where the voting took place. Photo / Susan Botting
THREE KEY FACTS:
Whangārei District Council (WDC) voted to keep its Māori ward for next year’s local elections – and to poll its people on whether to keep the ward, as part of new legal requirements.
Northland Regional Council voted to keep its first-term Māori constituency last week. It will investigate the legality of not polling its people over that decision.
Far North District Council is expected to formally vote to keep the ward at its September 5 decision meeting.
Vince Cocurullo is the Mayor of Whangārei.
OPINION
Last week our council made the decision to move to a binding referendum in 2025 to determine the future of our Māori ward. The council meeting was well-attended, both in chambers, at Te Iwitahi (our council building), and online.
The quality and content of the speeches was impressive, and I want to thank all who attended for their time, energy and passion. My hope is that this level of participation will flow through into our local elections, where a binding decision will be made on the future of our district.
Now is the time to check that you’re enrolled to vote, to be sure you can have your say when the time comes. It’s easy to check your status and to enrol online, just visit vote.nz.
Our council has close and meaningful relationships with local hapū and mana whenua, who inform our projects and strategic decisions. Council’s Te Karearea Strategic Partnership Standing Committee has eight mandated hapū representatives, and eight council members, including the chair and deputy chair.
The purpose of Te Karearea is to enable council and the hapū of Whangārei to work together to achieve their agreed vision: “Ka tūtuki te Kāwanatanga ā-rohe, ka puāwai hoki te kotahitanga me ōna tini kaupapa - local government that works through effective partnership and shared decisions to provide practical solutions.”
Effective partnership, shared decisions and practical solutions – our council has committed to these outcomes, and I have no doubt we will continue to do so.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo says the council has close and meaningful relationships with local hapū and mana whenua.
On August 22, 2024, the Minister of Local Government, Simeon Brown, announced the release of the Strategic Framework for Regional Deals.
What we need to see is that approach of effective partnerships and practical solutions shown in central government’s regional deal announcement. I was in the room when the framework was announced, with the deals described as “long-term commitments, intended to endure”. The deals are designed to promote economic growth and productivity, deliver connected and resilient infrastructure, and improve the supply of affordable, quality housing.
Our Northland region has been sorely lacking in meaningful Government funding for many years.
All the urgent large infrastructure projects in our region need partnership with our Government to succeed: a Northland four-lane expressway to give us reliable connection to the rest of New Zealand, a port expansion to allow for increased economic activity, upgrades to our existing transmission lines between Dargaville, Kaikohe, Kaitaia and Whangārei to allow increased capacity and resilience – the list goes on.
Northland has been neglected for years under previous Governments, now it’s our time. As chair of the Northland Mayoral Forum, representing all councils in Northland, I will continue to push the needs of our communities. We are asking for our Government to partner with us now, to start making shared decisions, and to develop practical solutions.
As Simeon Brown has said, New Zealand is facing an infrastructure deficit. In my mind, this deficit is more obvious here in Northland than anywhere else.
Northland is the next essential building block for this Government, and I look forward to negotiating regional deals when the offer is put to us.
