Stratford District Council elected members vote unanimously to retain Māori ward

The public gallery was full at Stratford District Council's meeting on Tuesday, August 13, when elected members voted unanimously in favour of keeping a Māori ward.

Stratford District councillors voted in favour of retaining the district’s Māori ward at last Tuesday’s council meeting.

In a public forum before the meeting, councillors heard from Ngapari Nui and Graham Young from Te Runanga o Ngāti Ruanui, Anaru Marshall and Sam Tamarapa from Te Kāhui Maru, and John Hooker and Emma Gardiner from Te Korowai o Ngāruahine.

Young, the Te Rununga o Ngāti Ruanui taiao offficer, said the recent Government legislative change, which required councils to make a decision on Māori wards by September 6 this year was “a complete overreach”.

“You as a council are more than capable of making these decisions for yourselves.”

He had strong words for the Government.

“Shame on the Government for reigniting the flames of a race debate ... Division and hatefulness will flourish.”

Ngapari Nui and Graham Young spoke in favour of Māori wards at a public forum before the Stratford District Council meeting.

Te Kāhui Maru pouwhakahaere Anaru Marshall said the new legislation would give a platform and voice to “factions” in the community that would otherwise struggle to be relevant. The legislation was undemocratic, he said, as it had been pushed through without proper consultation.

Te Korowai o Ngaruahine pouwhakarae Emma Gardiner told elected members the iwi had “skin in the game” as it was focused on investing in the community, pointing to the current development of the Stratford Lodge, on the site of the former Dawson Falls Lodge as well as the work done by iwi in Stratford during Covid.

She was, she added, “happy to have a beer” with any councillor to further discuss the merits of Māori wards.

In introducing the decision report on the subject to elected members, council CEO Sven Hanne first acknowledged a former councillor who had passed away in August 2023.

“I feel it is important to acknowledge those who have helped to lay the foundation, or pave the way for us today. Therefore, I would like to acknowledge and remember former councillor Peter Dalziel who, from the very beginning, supported and encouraged this council to establish a Māori ward.”

Former Stratford District councillor Peter Dalziel was a strong supporter of the establishment of a Māori ward in the district.

Dalziel, said Hanne, had attended that May 2021 decision meeting remotely.

“Councillor Dalziel attended via audio visual link from the carpark outside the clinic where he was receiving cancer treatment just to be able to be the one to second the motion to establish the ward. That was the strength of Peter’s commitment to this ward.”

Now, said Hanne, elected members had to decide on the future of that ward.

He said the coalition Government’s Māori wards bill reverted the law back to the old rules for establishing Māori wards and required either a binding referendum on wards that were established since 2020 without a referendum or for the council to scrap the ward.

While two councillors, Grant Boyde and Vaughan Jones, were absent from Tuesday’s meeting, with Boyde on a leave of absence and Jones having put in an apology, all elected members present at the council meeting voted in favour of the retention of the ward.

Several councillors took the opportunity to voice not only their support of the ward, but their frustration at the position they found themselves in.

Deputy Mayor Min McKay said she had concern around the legislation change.

“The coalition Government is reaching backwards into a time where they were not in power, and backdating some changes ... that’s something we should all be very concerned about.”

She was frustrated, she said, that the coalition Government frequently talked about the importance of empowering local decision makers to make decisions for their community because they have been elected by the community to do so, yet, in this particular decision they have decided we are not best placed to do this.

“My question is, why is it only this one decision that we’re not capable of making at this table?”

Elected members were able to make any other representation decisions, she said.

“We can establish any ward we wish to geographically, right down to a single street we wanted, without the need to have a referendum.”

Only a decision on a Māori ward required a referendum, she said.

“That certainly doesn’t scream empowerment and local decision making.”

Transparency was vital in decision making, and was missing in a referendum.

“This referendum is a faceless, anonymous way to make a decision.”

Councillor Ellen Hall said reversing decisions already made by councils was, “an alarming, undemocratic, and precedent-setting place for central government to land”.

Māori wards were not race based, but Te Tiriti based, she said.

Māori wards were an attempt at levelling a playing field and brought a “more accurate” representation of the community.

There had been a 22% increase in Māori representation in local government across the country since 2019, she said.

“This still equates to less than 13% of representation in the local government sector.”

Hall said she was “incensed” by the current situation.

“I am completely against disestablishing our Māori wards.”

The fact a referendum was needed to keep it, she said, was “fundamentally unfair”.

Past referendums on the subject had proven to be an insurmountable barrier she said.

“Prior to 2021, when the amendment was made, only 2 of 24 councils who attempted to create a Māori wards were successful.”

Despite that statistic, Hall was still hopeful.

“I firmly believe that what is good for Māori is good for all. My hope is that our community supports the retention of our Māori ward ... without it, we will all genuinely lose.”

Councillor Amanda Harris also spoke in favour of retaining the Māori ward.

“To put it bluntly, this mechanism is a complete overreach from central Government to step in and reverse a historic decision.”

Councillor Annette Dudley was even blunter in her words of support for the retention of the ward.

“This sucks.”

The previous speakers had covered off what she wanted to say, she added.

“In the public forum, Emma Gardiner said in an ideal world we would not even be in this position, and I agree. I really wish we were not in this position, but we are, and it sucks.”

Councillor Steve Beck said he had changed his viewpoint since he was first elected as a councillor in 2022.

“I was one that was a little bit miffed with the way the ward came into being ... but working with Clive [Tongaawhikau] has certainly changed my point of view.”

Mayor Neil Volzke said he agreed with other councillor’s use of the phrase “overreach”.

“Overreach is a really polite way of saying what the Government has done with this legislation.”

Clive Tongaawhikau entering the Stratford District Council building at the start of the pōwhiri and following the swearing in ceremony at the start of his term on council in October 2022. Photo / Ilona Hanne

Māori ward councillor Clive Tongaawhikau said his role on council was “to have the eyes, ears and heart of Māori”.

It was strange he said, to consider that only those on the Māori role could vote him in.

“But it’s different folk that can vote me out.”

Disclaimer: Editor Ilona Hanne is married to the chief executive of Stratford District Council.

Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.