Electoral Commission chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne is taking the blame for choosing Manurewa Marae as a voting location in the 2023 election. Photo / RNZ
Electoral Commission chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne is taking the blame for choosing Manurewa Marae as a voting location in the 2023 election. Photo / RNZ
The Electoral Commission accepts it failed to manage the perceived conflict of interest arising from using Auckland’s Manurewa Marae as a voting base in the 2023 election when the marae’s chief executive was standing as a candidate.
Commission chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne admitted today to MPs on Parliament’s Justice select committee the plan to manage the perceived conflict wasn’t sufficient and indicated it was unlikely the marae would be used again if chief executive Takutai Tarsh Kemp contested the 2026 election.
“I have to say we got that wrong,” Le Quesne said.
“I don’t think the perception of a conflict in there could’ve been managed in the way that we set out to do it.”
Kemp successfully ran as Te Pāti Māori’s candidate in the local Tāmaki Makaurau electorate in last year’s election. Manurewa Marae was used as a voting location.
Under Kemp’s leadership, the marae had engaged in many Government contracts to deliver health and social services, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp won the Tamaki Makaurau electorate in the 2023 election. Photo / Mike Scott
Select committee member and National MP Cameron Brewer told Le Quense he believed it was one of the “single biggest errors of judgment” in his two decades in politics and questioned why the commission had chosen the marae as a voting venue.
Le Quesne, fronting the select committee as part of Parliament’s scrutiny week, said the marae’s historical engagement with its local community was considered an advantage in using it as a voting location, especially given nearby residents had a historically lower voting turnout than those in other areas.
He also explained how a “mitigation plan” had been developed once the commission became aware Kemp was standing as a candidate, but he accepted the situation wasn’t managed sufficiently.
As chief electoral officer, Le Quesne approved all voting places. He said at the time of approval, he was told Kemp wouldn’t be involved in the voting operations and it would be staffed by the commission.
However, Le Quesne acknowledged he did not give enough consideration to the risk posed by the perceived conflict.
“Ultimately it was my decision so that’s on me.”
Asked by Brewer if the marae would be re-used in 2026 if Kemp ran again, Le Quesne thought it would be “hard to go ahead with it” but didn’t want to rule out any locations at this stage.
Le Quesne noted the situation was part of a wider, “tricky” discussion about what level of perceived conflict would be enough to render a venue unavailable to use for voting.
He accepted the commission needed to “look much harder” at circumstances when a candidate, party or third-party promoter was connected with a potential voting place but he was also wary about how far that extended.
“We’re kind of a little worried about where that takes you to because it is a bit of a slippery slope.”
In June, an investigation was launched after allegations were reported claiming Census data and Covid-19 vaccination information collected at Manurewa Marae had been misused for Te Pāti Māori’s election campaign.
The Public Service Commission’s inquiry had an indicative reporting date of September 16, but that has come and gone. The Herald has been asking for updates since and been told the inquiry was ongoing.
On Monday, Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said he expected a report back shortly and would be released in the coming weeks.
Public Service Minister Nicola Willis told the Herald on Monday she was happy with the pace of work, saying the commission needs to have confidence in its findings and that they will “live through the scrutiny of a significant amount of public challenge”.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
