A protest in Kaipara as Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua served the Kaipara District Council with an injunction to stop a planned vote on Maori wards.
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Kaipara District Council has voted to disestablish its Māori ward, becoming the first council to do so under new rules, in a tense council meeting.

Councillors voted six to three in favour of disestablishing the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward, with one abstention.

An extraordinary council meeting deciding the fate of the council’s Māori ward was attended by councillors, members of the public and at least 150 demonstrators at the council’s Mangawhai office.

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Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora twice opened the council chamber doors allowing waiata and karanga from outside to flow inside, interrupting the meeting.

A protest in Kaipara as Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua served the Kaipara District Council with an injunction to stop a planned vote on Maori wards.
Photo: RNZ

Mayor Craig Jepson threatened to oust Paniora if her behaviour continued, under council’s standing orders, and paused the meeting briefly.

Paniora moved to postpone the vote pending consultation with iwi under section 81 of the Local Government Act, and said she had “had enough” of the council making decisions without seeking input from the segment of society it impacted.

Fellow councillor Eryn Wilson-Collins told the meeting voting to scrap Māori wards without iwi input would be detrimental to ongoing relationships.

“It is not just Māori that are asking us to have the Māori wards. It is not just Māori who are asking us to live in a modern bicultural society,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen compared the scenes that played out as an example of “tribal warfare” and “civil unrest”.

Following the vote, Paniora delivered the news to crowds of supporters gathered outside. She said the council’s decision to continue with the vote was illegal and in breach of its legal requirements under the Local Government Act.

Pera Paniora addresses supporters in Mangawhai.
Photo: Taiha Molyneux / RNZ

Paniora said they had begun legal action in the High Court.

“They will not be allowed to continue with their representation review, and unfortunately our ratepayers will have to bear the burden of challenging and defending the legal cost for those proceedings.”

In his closing speech, Jepson said the idea of a Māori ward was condescending to Māori.

“If you are the best candidate, no matter who your ancestors are, you will be elected. This is well-proven in the history of our nation’s local and central government.

“To name a few, Mayor [Tania] Tapsell in Rotorua, Mayor [Tory] Whanau in Wellington and Moko Tepania in the Far North District Council – all Māori mayors. We have famous politicians – Winston Peters, Shane Jones and David Seymour – as leaders of our coalition government.”

Jepson said it harked back to something Martin Luther King said about wanting children to grow up in a nation free of discrimination.

“I think we live in a society right now where we actually value that.”

The establishment of Māori wards relied on a false narrative, he said.

Iwi representatives perform a haka in support of Paniora.
Photo: Taiha Molyneux / RNZ

“That narrative breaches that Māori have no voice, are unfairly disadvantaged, are oppressed, suffer the continued effects of colonisation and systemic racism.

“Those of us who were not blessed with Māori ancestry should feel guilty for the past misdeeds of our ancestors. I am… a product of white privilege, I guess.”

Jepson said most Kiwis, no matter their culture, believed this – citing low turnout of Māori ward voters.

Councils have until 6 September to decide whether to drop the wards. If they did not reach a decision, a binding referendum must be held alongside the election.

Jepson had been called on to resign by iwi groups over his stance to remove the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward.