An extraordinary meeting of the Kaipara District Council this morning to decide the fate of its Māori ward seat saw heated exchanges and threats to remove Pera Paniora.
Paniora helped to derail the meeting midway through when a peaceful protest chanting outside was invited in.
Jepson reprimanded Paniora, threatening to remove her from the meeting for ‘disorderly behaviour’.
Later in the meeting, Paniora tried to raise a point of order, saying a pro-disestablishment speaker was directing his presentation at her, for which she received Jepson’s scorn.
“It is a public forum, and you will be quiet, or you will remove yourself from the meeting. Make up your mind. I am tired of giving you warnings.”
The move comes just a week after changes to the Local Government Act, introduced by the coalition government, allowing councils to get rid of their Māori wards before the next local elections without a referendum.
Councils may keep their wards, but only if they put them to the electorate for a vote.
The full meeting can be viewed here, with protesters entering the meeting around the 32 minute mark, and Jepson and Paniora squaring off around the 43 minute mark.