Kaipara District Council has voted to disestablish its Māori ward, becoming the first council to do so under new rules.
In a tense meeting, councillors voted 6 to 3 in favour of disestablishing the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward. Councillor Rachael Williams abstained.
Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson, deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen and councillors Gordon Lambeth, Mike Howard, Ron Manderson and Ash Nayyar voted for the removal of the ward ahead of the next local elections in October 2025. Protesters outside the meeting erupted into a haka and banged on the meeting venue walls.
Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora and councillors Mark Vincent and Eryn Wilson-Collins voted against the removal.
“The establishment and need for Māori wards relies on a false narrative.”
Jepson said that protesters could now shift to constructively participating in the democratic process.
The next local elections allowed Māori and all people to stand on an even playing field.
Democracy Northland chair John Bain said KDC’s decision as a positive move for democracy.
KDC must now do a representation review that would normally take five months in a much shorter timeframe.
Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward Cr Pera Paniora said after the meeting that the council decision was undemocratic because the community had not had a chance to have its say.
Paniora, a lawyer, said the decision was hypocrisy.
Polls had been held up as an essential part of the Kaipara community having its say on Māori wards.
But today’s decision to remove the ward had been made without public consultation.
New Government legislation allows councils to get rid of their Māori wards before the next local election or keep them and hold a binding poll.