A Māori Ward loophole you may not be aware of

It has been quite a week, but this information is time-sensitive, so I'm emailing you again!

You may think the Māori wards battle is done and dusted, but there are some tricky fish hooks that need attention.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown's law change means councils must in the future allow ratepayers to petition for a referendum if they (councils) want to establish Māori wards, returning the legal position to what it was before the Ardern Labour Government changed the rules in 2021.

But what about those councils that took advantage of the Ardern Government's law change removing the right of ratepayers to petition for a referendum on the issue, or have already voted to create one, although it is not scheduled to exist before the local body elections in 2025?

Councils have until 6 September 2024 to either disestablish their Māori ward(s) or rescind their vote to create them.

>>> SEND THEM A MESSAGE <<<

32 councils established Māori wards following the passing of Nanaia Mahuta's law, which removed the right for ratepayers to demand a referendum when councils proposed creating one or more Māori wards.

These councils can choose between:

🔲 Disestablish now, with effect from 2025

🔲 Referendum in 2025, with effect from 2028

13 councils have voted to create Māori ward(s) but they have not yet actually been established (in other words, they are intended to exist from the 2025 local body elections).

These councils can choose between:

🔲 Rescind their vote to create Māori ward(s)

🔲 Referendum in 2025, with effect from 2028

Overwhelmingly—with the single exception of Wairoa, which voted in favour of Māori wards—all the referenda held on this issue (before the change of law by Nanaia Mahuta) were strongly opposed to Māori wards. In the case of Western Bay of Plenty, for example, 78% of those who voted were against Māori wards.

In other words, ratepayers are overwhelmingly against Māori wards. Scrapping existing wards where they have recently been created, or rescinding the decision to create them where they are not yet in existence, seems an obvious way to save money and avoid more of the kind of tensions and hostility we have seen around councils as they decide on this.

What can we do?

Put pressure on councillors to either disestablish Māori wards or rescind their votes.

It is the simplest way to get rid of Māori wards, save ratepayers the expense of referenda, and avoid one-term Māori wards.

>>> SEND A MESSAGE TO YOUR COUNCILLORS ASAP <<<

We've pulled together a quick template for you to use to email all of your councillors at once. This is a template letter, but we encourage you to add your own thoughts.

Thanks for all of your support this week. It has been a big one and your encouragement online and in messages has been the antidote to all the nasty messages and threats.

We must keep pushing for an equal, democratic, and unified New Zealand.

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