The topic of interest was a motion to either retain or disestablish the Kaipara’s Māori ward.
I was part of a team from Democracy Northland who in December 2020 set about gathering signations to force the Council of the day to hold a binding referendum. Some months earlier the council had created a Māori ward without consulting the community at large.
The outrage that followed was such that we set about challenging that decision by using the petition right available at the time.
Craig Jepson and Ash Nayyar led the team in Kaipara and did a sterling job. Both subsequently ran for office and were elected, Craig as mayor and Ash as a councillor representing Dargaville.
The response was such that we easily surpassed the 5% threshold, gaining 8.8% of voters registered on the electoral roll. The petition was validated by the Council’s Returning Officer. It was remarkable support given the low voting turnout in local body elections. By my calculation, about 20% of the voting public signed the petition.
All that good work was undone by Nanaia Mahuta passing retrospective legislation that predated the validation of our petition. Clearly, Mahuta knew full well that the public would overturn council’s decision but she had her own pro-Maori agenda.
Based on the thousands of people we spoke to, I estimate 80% of the community was against the creation of the Māori ward. Four reasons kept coming through.
The first is they believe the community should be united by the things we have in common, not divided by our differences.
The second was they believed in the fundamental principles of democracy where every person has one vote, all votes are equal, and all opinions should be respected.
Thirdly, they believe councillors should represent the community as a whole and not a segment of it.
Lastly, they thought Māori did not need to be treated as people with special needs. They believe Māori are very capable of gaining positions on council on their own merits. The figures for Māori representation on local councils confirm this. They show councillors with Māori ancestry is more than their proportionate share of the population.
Ironically just a few days ago Kaipara’s sitting Māori ward councillor, Cr Paniora, told Michael Laws in an interview on the Platform, that she expects to win a general seat at next year’s local body election. That begs the question – then why do you need a reserved Māori seat? If Cr Paniora is correct, she will still be around the decision-making table, but with a mandate to speak for the entire community not just Māori.
Regrettably, Cr Paniora herself has demonstrated why Māori seats should be abolished. Quite simply, they are a gateway for radical elements within Māori to get around the top table and disrupt.
Most Māori living in Kaipara have so little interest in the Māori seat and the likes of Cr Paniora that they didn’t even bother voting. Cr Paniora gained her seat by attracting just a couple of hundred votes! Electing a councillor on the whim of 200 votes is ridiculous.
What we saw at the meeting were the disruptors who are so entrenched in their victim mentality that they think it’s OK to shout abuse at those who don’t agree with their radicalism.
Cr Paniora disrupted the meeting continuously, and clearly set out with an intention to do so. My brief commentary to the councillors was interrupted when she opened up an external door to allow entry for some wide-eyed warrior-like wahine wearing a Palestinian scarf performing a war dance.
Some of the dozen Police officers on hand formed a line to prevent Paniora from repeating her nonsense, but she continued to disrupt from within. It was the worst display of behaviour from a councillor I have ever witnessed during my time as a councillor and as a long-time follower of local council matters.
I have never been a fan of the Code of Conduct that councils are required to adopt; it is too often used as a weapon to silence councillors with a contrary opinion. However, I now know why it should be there.
Its purpose is to foster a good working relationship between councillors. One of the values stated in Kaipara’s Code is respect: “Respect for others: will treat people, including other members, with respect and courtesy, regardless of their race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.”
In terms of the relationship between members, it says:
“Given the importance of relationships to the effective performance of the Council, members will conduct their dealings with each other in a manner that: ·Maintains public confidence; · Is open, honest and courteous; · Is focused on issues rather than personalities; ·Avoids abuse of meeting procedures, such as a pattern of unnecessary notices of motion and/or repetitious points of order; and ·Avoids aggressive, bullying or offensive conduct, including the use of disrespectful or malicious language.”
Cr Paniora showed no respect to her colleagues or those who expressed a view contrary to her own. She was discourteous, abused meeting procedures with petulant and frivolous points of order and went out of her way to disrupt the meeting.
Cr Paniora thinks she will be reelected next year in a general seat. Let’s hope not.
