Maori wards - why are we having a referendum?

 Why? Because the WDC, NRC, and FNDC decided to change the voting system without allowing the public to have a say, and without the public having the right to veto their decision via a binding referendum! The Coalition government is putting that right by forcing all 42 councils that created Maori wards without the veto in place to hold a binding referendum so the public can exercise a fundamental democratic right that some councillors still fail to grasp. 

This same I-know-best thinking was evident when the WDC voted against consulting the public about their decision to change the voting system from FPP to STV. When Hikurangi-Coastal ward Cr Scott McKenzie was challenged to explain why he voted against consulting the public,  he replied to the effect: Because he can. Perhaps Cr McKenzie, like a former PM, thinks he is the sole source of truth and knows what’s best for the public, even when the public thinks otherwise. The voting system is the property of electors, not the elected to change as they think best or to suit themselves. 

These people are dangerous, not in a physical or aggressive way, but in their disregard for the fundamental principles of democracy: One being that it is electors who should have a say about how they elect their representatives, and another being that the role of a representative is to represent, not dictate.