Local board members say prayer off agenda

Graeme Easte. Photo / Greg Bowker

Although the first business meeting is due tomorrow, Albert-Eden Local Board members are still uncertain what their role is. But they won't be seeking divine guidance with a prayer.

Traditionally, some of the city councils forming the Super City, including Mayor Len Brown's Manukau, opened their meetings with a prayer. Whether he gets to read a prayer at the Auckland Council's governing body meeting tomorrow is undecided.

The former Auckland City Council did not start with a prayer and when staff delivered a draft agenda for Albert-Eden, which included one, it came as a surprise to members.

"It turns out this board is the first of the 21 local boards to hold a meeting," said member Graeme Easte. "Council advisers said the [computer] programme for local board agendas was set up in such a way that they cannot make the prayer not appear.

"It's a teething issue," said Mr Easte, who added that members were still vague about what their role was because the Super City founding legislation was so general. "We are not going to have a prayer.

"It could be contentious because which Good Book do you use as the basis of the prayer?

"And some people will say, 'Why Christian and not Buddhist?' So, it's an unnecessary complication."

A spokesman for the mayor said he played no role in the planning of inaugural local board meetings. It was up to local boards to decide what elements they wanted in their meetings.

Albert-Eden deputy Margi Watson said she was surprised to see the prayer put up as an agenda item, "because we are very much a secular society that's accepting of everybody's belief. Within our boundaries, we have a diverse ethnic and religious community."

Helga Arlington said she was not keen on a Christian-style opening. However, Pauline Anderson and Lee Corrick said they were comfortable with a prayer or statement of affirmation.