Northland’s local body Māori wards working well - ex-Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels

FNDC's four Māori ward council members seated at Waitangi for the newly-elected council's pōwhiri - Babe Kapa (in suit, left), Hilda Halkyard-Harawira (second left), with fellow Māori ward councillors Tāmati Rākena (second right) and Penetaui Kleskovic (right). In the centre are Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford and Mayor Moko Tepania. Tepania also stood in a Māori ward. Photo / Tania Whyte

Māori ward representation in Te Tai Tokerau is starting to find its feet in local government, according to long time local government politician and former Minister of Māori Affairs Dover Samuels.

But there is more work to be done before a report card on how well it is progressing can be given out, he said.

“First of all, the sky hasn’t fallen down,” Samuels said of new legislation allowing for Māori wards in Northland and around New Zealand at the 2022 local government elections.

The former Te Tai Tokerau MP and Minister of Māori Affairs said the honeymoon period of aroha and representation under the Treaty of Waitangi had now passed, as Māori ward councillors moved beyond their first six months in office.

The time for philosophical debate over the worth of the wards and the ructions their introduction caused in some quarters was also over.

“The light has shone,” he said.

Northland’s three district councils all now have a Māori ward and Northland Regional Council (NRC) also has a Te Raki Māori Constituency.

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania stood in the district’s Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori ward, while NRC chairwoman Tui Shortland was elected in the council’s Te Raki Māori Constituency.

Just over 20 per cent of Northland’s 44 local government politicians have been elected from the region’s four new Māori electoral areas. Māori make up more than 26 per cent of Northland’s population, well ahead of the national average of 17.2 per cent.

Kerikeri-based Samuels started his political career as a Whangaroa County Council councillor in the 1970s.

NRC chairwoman Tui Shortland was elected to council via the Te Raki Māori constituency. Photo / Michael Cunningham

He said it was too soon for an A, B or C report card on how progress with new Māori wards was going.

“Things are shaping up as positively as they could be. The waka is going in the right direction, but success will be measured after the first 12 months in office” Samuels said.

“Success will be measured after the first budget comes out.”

It would also be measured on how councils’ 10-year longer term budgeting unfolded.

He said Māori ward councillors across Northland’s district and regional councils were effectively among the directors of the biggest company in Te Tai Tokerau, helming an operation funded by ratepayers.

“It’s about budget processes, economics and managing funding and finances. This is where the biggest risk is.”

Successful financial management was how elected local government politicians were measured, whether they were Māori, Pākehā or anybody else, Samuels said.

“They’ve now got to deliver.”

Kerikeri-based Dover Samuels, former Te Tai Tokerau MP and Māori Affairs Minister. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Samuels said the new representatives in Northland and around the country brought a Māori perspective to their roles. Like all first-time elected councillors, they had to get to grips with the reality of being in New Zealand’s local government system, which included that they were in office to represent all across their district or region.

He said it was obvious the majority of Māori ward councillors had accepted the responsibilities and challenge of representing all ratepayers.

Samuels said one area councils in Northland and beyond had to ensure they worked on was encouraging the development of Māori land in their rohe, towards resolving non-payment of rates on this land.

• Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.