The effect is that the WDC and
NRC will disestablish their Maori wards at the end of the current three-year term.
John Bain from Democracy
Northland said he was pleased that the public had finally had their say on the
Maori wards issue.
“The results vindicate the stance we took five years ago when we presented our petitions to the councils. It is a travesty that councillors ignored a petition with more than 15,000 signatures and introduced Maori wards without any regard for public opinion. They should hang their heads in shame and reflect on what it means to be a representative.”
Northland's results aligned with
the broader pattern seen across other councils. Areas with a high Maori
population, and regions with a high state sector workforce (like “woke”
Wellington) voted to retain the Maori wards, while provincial cities and rural
areas voted to remove them.
Michael Laws, Whanganui’s former
mayor, thought more councils would vote to keep their wards. He pointed to a
strong social media presence and a campaign by the mainstream media to keep the
wards.
It is certainly true that there
was a concerted campaign to silence those supporting the remove option.
In Northland, their hoardings were destroyed within hours of being erected, and
the limited mainstream media coverage was often unbalanced and, in some cases,
blatantly misleading. For example, a reporter for the Northern Advocate
said Maori had historically been underrepresented on local
councils. Clearly, it did not suit the reporter’s narrative to mention the fact
that today Maori are over-represented both on local councils
and in Parliament!
During the voting period, the
same newspaper published a photo showing pro-Maori ward signage to illustrate a
story unrelated to Maori wards. The editor justified it by saying they “strongly
defend freedom of expression when it comes to issues such as Māori Wards”.
But it was not only the
mainstream media going into bat for Maori wards. In Northland, local councils
mobilised what they called a “roadie campaign” to increase voter participation.
This is how it was described in the
Northern Advocate:
“Northland’s biggest local
election voting roadie campaign kicks off this week as mobile ballot boxes are
taken into some of the region’s most remote locations. Voting ballot box
roadies to more than 180 mostly far-flung locations began in the Far North on
Wednesday and will begin in Kaipara next weekend. Thousands of kilometres will
be travelled and more than 100 destinations will be visited…The Northland
roadies will visit marae, rugby clubs, sports halls, schools, markets and other
community-led events across the district.”
The Far North District Council
says the purpose of their Mobile Ballot Box Tour was “aimed at
educating our communities about the upcoming local government elections in
October, and empowering people to vote.”
These are worthy words, and few
would dare argue against empowering people to vote. The question being asked is
whether they targeted all voters equally. That’s a fair question, given voter
turnout in the Maori wards was up significantly from three years ago. The difference may be that the Maori ward issue motivated
those on the Maori roll more than others. Or it could be that marae were used
to “harvest” votes. A pop-up booth at the Northland Polytechnic is now the
subject of a Police complaint regarding pro-Maori wards signage and
unauthorised staff assisting voters at the booth.
Given these obstacles, we believe
it is remarkable that voters in so many councils voted to remove their Maori
ward. Democracy is the people’s voice.
Kaipara did not hold a referendum
on Maori wards, as it had previously voted to disestablish the race-based seat held
by Pera Paniora. Ironically, with Snow Tane and Josephine Kemp being elected in
a general ward, the KDC now has greater Maori representation without the Maori
ward, as was the case before the Jason Smith-led council introduced the Maori
ward. This makes a mockery of the claim that Maori seats are needed at all.
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