It is unfortunate that at the time we commemorate the sacrifice made by our soldiers in WWI we read of the Whangarei District Council's decision to appoint non-elected people to Standing Committees. The decision shows a lack of respect for the democracy our soldiers fought for.
Those who make decisions over us should be accountable to us.
Equality of status before our governing bodies, regardless of race, is another fundamental human right disregarded by the council.
For the mayor to lament that there is no one who can "whakapapa back to our community partners" indicates she believes Maori are not part of the same community we all live in, they are only partners to it.
In truth our community has many ethnicities, Maori being one, and not all are represented in council; nor do they need to be because representation is not about identity. It is just as wrong to assume that a man cannot be represented by a woman or that a woman automatically represents all women, as it is to assume that only Maori can represent Maori. If this were the case where are the Chinese or Indian representatives?
