Auckland Council will be making a decision next week about whether or not to establish Maori Wards for the 2025 local body elections.
Can you take the time to tell Councillors that we do not want more division?
I asked you recently to make submissions to Auckland Council regarding the establishment of Maori Wards. Despite a strong response opposing this race-based representation, Auckland Council is still going ahead and will be voting on the matter shortly. Unfortunately, there are some staunch supporters of Maori Wards on the Council.
Surprisingly, this seems to be a difficult subject for Councillors to take a stand on and we want to remind them that it is not racist to defend democracy.
We have written up a template letter to help you easily e-mail Auckland Councillors to ask them to oppose Maori Wards. You can find it here.
Auckland Council has some big challenges ahead, but prioritising race-based representation on their to-do list does a disservice to Aucklanders and to our democracy.
I am asking you to take a moment to send a message that will support those councillors who are opposing division by race and remind those who are undecided what you expect of them as representatives of ALL Aucklanders.
Your voice does make a difference. Please take a moment to keep our elected representatives focused on what is needed to improve outcomes for us all.