The stand-off over planned felling of 345 exotic trees on Mount Albert, Auckland, perhaps lifts a veil from an absurd yet extensive decolonisation process that we are ALL paying for.

For those living in Palmerston North, Manawatu, Western Bay of Plenty, Whakatane, and Kaikoura, when voting papers arrive please vote against proposals to set up a Maori ward in your area.

Petitions in both Palmerston North and Kaikoura were validated on Wednesday, which means that all five districts where councils have voted to establish Maori wards will have a vote in May on whether or not those should proceed.

Campaigners in Manawatu, Western Bay of Plenty, and Whakatane have taken sufficient signatures to their respective councils to trigger polls on proposals for Maori wards in their areas.

Closing the gap between Maori and everyone else in terms of inequality in education, incarceration, poverty and employment was how the news media reported New Zealand’s national day on Tuesday.

At Ratana Pa last Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern kicked off the political year when she said “we will never have fulfilled our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi or the prophesies of Ratana” until “we” have improved Maori social indicators.

Two iwi have quietly been paid huge top-ups, totalling $370 million, to their supposed "full and final" Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Stuff reported today. Waikato-Tainui received $190 million and the South Island's Ngai Tahu $180 million – more than they originally settled for in 1995 and 1998, respectively.

More than 60 percent of voters and ratepayers in the Western Bay of Plenty, Manawatu, and Palmerston North disagree with a proposal by their councils to set up Maori wards, a poll commissioned by equality group Hobson’s Pledge revealed today.

Councils in Palmerston North, Manawatu, Whakatane, and Western Bay of Plenty have decided to proceed with Maori wards, so it is over to residents in those areas to have their say.

Why are the Auckland Council, Napier City Council, and Palmerston North City Council currently considering Maori wards? This is because they are required to do so by legislation, most especially Section 19 Z of the Local Electoral Act 2001, which allows all councils the option of establishing Maori constituencies or wards by resolution of council. If councils decide to establish Maori wards, the decision can be challenged by a poll of all voters.