Local councils to vote on challenge to Māori ward polling rule

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania.
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania says he will support a challenge to a new rule around polling on Māori wards.
Under new legislation, any council that established a Māori ward without holding a poll and wishes to keep that Māori ward is now required to hold a poll of its constituents at the 2025 local elections.
Palmerston North City Council voted on August 7 to keep its Māori ward, but also decided to investigate the legal ramifications of not conducting a poll of its ratepayers.
More than 600 political leaders from 72 New Zealand councils are expected to attend Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ)’s annual conference in Wellington this week.
Some of those political leaders are expected to vote today on a LGNZ push from Palmerston North City Council for Māori wards and constituencies not to be subject to polling.
It is one of eight remits to be voted on by attending councils.
Whakatāne District councillor Nandor Tanczos has also asked his council to seek legal advice on refusing the Government’s new Māori ward polling requirement, after his council on August 15 voted unanimously in favour.
And while Tepania would not be drawn on what his council would do about the required polling, he said the Far North District Council (FNDC) will be supporting the Palmerston North City Council AGM push.
The FNDC is expected to formally vote to keep its Ngā Tai o Tokerau ward on September 5 – just one day ahead of the Government deadline for 45 councils around New Zealand to decide similarly.
Meanwhile, Northland Regional Council (NRC) is the architect of another LGNZ meeting Māori ward remit pushing for stronger Māori wards protection in new rules requiring a 75% majority vote for any Government Local Electoral Act legislation changes affecting these wards.
NRC chairman Geoff Crawford said his council had been the architect of this legislation change push.
This was because it fitted in with its April 2024 Tāiki ē: Te Tiriti strategic intent and implementation plan.
Tāiki ē endorses the council’s partnership with Te Taitokerau Māori and council working party, Te Kahu o Taonui (Northland Iwi Chairs Forum), iwi and hapū to give effect to Te Tirit o Waitangi through governance and operations.
Tepania said FNDC would be supporting this Northland Regional Council push during tomorrow’s AGM voting.
He said bringing a grand majority voting rule requirement into the Local Electoral Act would avoid Māori wards’ presence being subject to Government political whim.
“Māori wards would then not be at the behest of whatever the current Government wants to see changed,” Tepania said.
The NRC entrenchment push has also been backed by Whangārei District Council as part of LGNZ’s northern arm.
NRC is also leading a push at LGNZ’s Wellington meeting for the GST the Government earns from Northland and around New Zealand to be returned to the region from which it was generated.
The councils in Wellington will also vote on these two NRC AGM remits.
Crawford said the GST call came as well as another remit seeking better funding models for the Government-directed work that councils are required to do.
He said more and more Government-directed work sometimes left councils out of pocket.
Government-directed spending on new regional Northland freshwater management planning over the last 15 years had left ratepayers with a $10 million bill.
Tepania said it was no longer sustainable for communities to fund everything the Government increasingly required of councils locally from rates.
Meanwhile, Whangārei Mayor and metropolitan centres’ LGNZ board member Vince Cocurullo said it was positive to see Northland had produced almost 40% of the eight remits that councils from around New Zealand would be voting on in Wellington today.
Ten Northland local government politicians are attending the Wellington LGNZ conference – three each from FNDC and Whangārei District Council, including the mayors, along with four from NRC including the chairman.
Kaipara District Council political leaders will not attend as this council is one of five nationally which are not LGNZ members.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism funded by RNZ and NZ On Air