The Heretaunga District Council today agreed unanimously to keep its Takitimu Māori ward.
The Reverend Jill McDonald of St Andrews Parish opened the discussion with a prayer: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O God. I cry out in lament to you at the business before us today.”
“Again there are moves to suppress tangata whenua, suppress their right to be heard, to silence their voices,” she said.
“E te atua, let us remember the horrific impact of colonisation, that it has had on Māori across this whenu. Let us remember the confiscation of land, let us remember the attempted annihilation of language and culture, let us remember the systematic racism that continues.”
She recalled the prophets Te Whiti Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi of Parihaka and Wiremu Ratana who brought the gift of healing and lamented at the confiscation of Māori land in 1924 who called to restore Te Tiriti as the founding document of the nation, which enabled tāngata whenua and tāngata tiriti to flourish together, she said.
“Loving God, here we are again a century later in a council chamber, to call Te Tiriti into question.”
Support from mayor
Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst reflected on the past and the “triumphant” day when they voted in a council chamber filled with the community for the inclusion of the Māori ward in 2022 after getting 76% support from the community in 2021.
Hazlehurst recalled the words of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga’s chair, Mike Paku, who said Māori had been waiting 180 years to sit at the table.
Since the decision, the mayor said she had seen the positive change in making a healthier, stronger and more unified community and acknowledged Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod and the Toitū Te Reo festival.
She said Heretaunga District Council was leading the way in Aotearoa and it was disheartening having to ask the question of the inclusion of Māori wards again.
Exploring ignoring referendum rule
Deputy mayor Tania Kerr asked what would happen if, in following in Palmerston North’s lead, the council were to ignore the obligation put forth by the government to hold a binding poll referendum in the 2025 October local elections.
Executive advice was given that due to the government passing the law and councillors taking an oath to operate within the law, refusing to carry out the poll would be in breach of the law. However, the council could work with Palmerston North City Council to see if there are legitimate options.
Kerr said the Māori wards referendum didn’t sit well with her because of the cost, the burden and the lack of consistency in democratic rights. She made the point that the poll was binding for six years and, even if successful. the council might have to go through “this farce” all over again.
Heather Te-Au Skipworth and Ana Apatu added to recommendations to explore not holding the binding poll, highlighting the ability to leverage guaranteed rights to Māori to have the same privileges as non-Māori.
Addressing Māori rights
Te Au-Skipworth said her first oath was to He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which came before the Crown.
She talked about Māori constantly being perceived as asking for ‘special privileges’. She referenced the late academic, Moana Jackson, by saying under He Whakaputanga there were pre-existing rights that were reaffirmed under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the needs Māori currently have come from the breach of those rights.
To address Māori needs, she said, it needed to recognise rights had been breached. It seemed wrong to her to call needs based on the breach of rights as a ‘special privilege’.
Te-Au Skipworth said the taking of power and land resulted in the privileging of Pākehā and the establishment of Pākehā institutions generated power and wealth at the expense of Māori.
Kellie Jessup said it was hōhā having to deal with a government that wanted to take the time back pre-1860. However, she said she was proud to be standing with her whānau and hapū there with her and proud to be on a council fighting for Māori.
“Blessed to have a council and tāngata tiriti to help us walk this awkward, hōhā haerenga,” Jessup said.
Unanimous support
Wendy Schollum asked for the percentage of Māori in Heretaunga, which was 30%, and she said this third wasn’t historically reflected in local government. But the introduction of wards had brought Māori voices to the table along with a unique worldview to decision-making with an interconnectedness of social, cultural, environmental and economic wellbeings.
Schollum highlighted the contributions Apatu, Te Au-Skipworth and Jessup had made.
She was dismayed by what she described as the government’s removal of their ‘wellbeings’ and said Māori wards were a crucial way to ensure the Māori worldview and its emphasis on collective wellbeing and sustainable stewardship were embedded in decision-making.
Councillors said they had been receiving emails from members of the community who were against the Māori wards.
“This is about ensuring governance structure that reflect our community, it’s about ensuring the majority do not silence the minority,” Schollum said.
Te Au-Skipworth said “This is not just a resolution for today” but it must extend beyond.