Eleven of the 14 elected representatives on the WDC are seeking re-election. We are astounded by the disconnect between the election promises being made by some candidates and their voting record. Actions speak louder than election waffle, so LETTERBOX has tabulated the way the mayor and councillors have voted on critical decisions.
It’s a question that many are
asking and the answer is relevant to Whangarei.
Barry says, “It's the same reason why one of the country's most revered mayors in recent years, Dame Kerry Prendergast, lost her nine-year grip on the city's mayoralty to another unfathomable choice, Celia Wade-Brown. It's not because both Whanau and Wade-Brown are Greens and it's not because both of them love cycleways, despite vocal ratepayer opposition to the amount of money being spent on Wellington cycleways. It's because of the single transferrable voting system (STV) that saw them winning against all odds. It's the system where you vote for candidates on a preferential system, where once a quota's been reached for a candidate, they drop out and the votes for the second preference kicks in - and so on until a winner is found.”
When defending the low turnout of
voting in Maori wards, WDC Cr Deb Harding recently claimed Maori participation
in voting had been as low as 2%.
We have asked Cr Harding to
provide evidence that this was the case, but no response to the various
requests has been received. We assume Cr Harding won’t back up her claim
because it’s untrue.
This is true: Voter participation
on the Māori roll was 23.8% (less than one in four). Half of those that identify
as Māori choose to be on the general roll, which means only 1 in 8 Māori vote
in Māori wards. So why do we have them?
In 2022 turnout for the WDC local election was just over 43%,
down from 45% in the previous two elections.
Voter participation on the Māori roll was just 23.8%. Half of
those who identify as Māori choose to be on the general roll, which means only
1 in 8 Māori voted in the Māori ward.
When this was pointed out to councillors, Cr Deb Harding defended
the poor turnout by saying Māori participation in voting had been as low as 2%.
She did not disclose the source of her information or when that was, so we have
(three times) written to Cr Harding and asked for clarification. We have yet to
receive a reply.
