‘Discriminatory’ law on Maori districts must change, says Kiri Allan

By Alice Angeloni, local democracy reporter

The law around Maori neighborhoods is “discriminatory,” says East Coast MP Kiri Allan, as activists petition the government for an urgent change in legislation.

The campaign organization ActionStation and the community group Te Ropu Tautoko Māori have collected over 10,000 signatures calling on Parliament to make the Maori neighborhood establishment process for regional and district councils the same as the general neighborhood establishment process.

Allan, along with Green Party Co-Chair Marama Davidson and Maori Party Co-Chair Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, will be on the steps of Parliament at noon tomorrow when the petitions are delivered to MP Tamati Coffey.

“The law that applies at this time is discriminatory,” Allan said.

It refers to the voting requirement, which means that council decisions in favor of Maori districts can be overridden under the local Election Law if 5% of the voters demand a vote on the decision.

“For me, supporting these districts after the unanimous decision in Gisborne … there is a resounding mandate from our communities on the East Coast to support districts like these. Our people are calling for it across the board, Maori and Pakeha and everyone. the others, “Allan said.

“It’s about doing what’s best for our democracy, and our democracy says that if we bring the right people to the table, better decisions will be made.”

“I feel like it’s just an obligation to uphold the good law.”

Allan said he was surprised that federated farmers in Gisborne demonstrated in support of the Maori districts.

“They know that when you work with the land and with people, it’s easier to just take people with you, to make sure they are at the table when we make decisions, because that’s how we get good results.”

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has said that addressing Māori representation arrangements is a priority for her for the next three years. Allan said it was an issue that the local government minister was looking at “immediately.”

He said the petitions to be presented tomorrow are an “important signal” to the government about the position of the community in the Maori neighborhoods.

“That certainly has an impact, it certainly builds a case, and these are things that we all take very seriously in our considerations of whether or not we seek to make changes to the law.”

The government had a role to play, it was part of the Labor Party manifesto and now it was about “getting to a good political point,” Allan said.

ActionStation Director Laura O’Connell Rapira said the change in legislation had to happen “urgently.”

“If we wait a year for this to change, it is very likely that many of the Maori districts where the councils have voted will be blocked,” he said.

“We are basically asking that Maori districts be treated in the same way as general or rural districts. At this stage, only Maori districts can be challenged by a citizen-initiated referendum.

“We believe that is unfair, and has historically been used to prevent Maori districts from being established, even though councils and councilors voted to establish them.

“The reason for submitting the petition now is to show Minister Mahuta that she has our full support. We also hope to show the Cabinet that Nanaia has the public’s support to also make it one of her top priorities.”

This year, nine councils across the country have voted to establish Maori seats in time for the next round of local body elections in 2022.

The lobby group Hobson’s Pledge released an update yesterday saying that “even more signature collectors from Maori districts were needed” to send decisions to the polls across the region, following decisions in favor of the district council of Gisborne, along with the Taupo, Ruapehu and South Taranaki district councils. from the Maori neighborhoods.

The New Zealand Taxpayers Union also issued a statement yesterday in which it disparaged Labor ministers for revealing “new and surprising ‘top priorities’ that were completely absent from the party’s election manifesto.”

Taxpayers Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke said Minister Mahuta appeared “determined to exclude full participation in certain important decisions about local democracy.”

“She has no mandate for this,” he said.

The Gisborne district councilors voted unanimously on 23 November in favor of the establishment of Maori districts.

For Gisborne, which has a population of 53% Maori, if the current model of 13 councilors plus the mayor were maintained, it was proposed that five councilors be elected from the Maori districts and eight from the general districts.

If 5 percent of voters, or 1,625 people, sign a petition in Gisborne, the proposal on Maori districts must be sent to a regional vote and the council’s decision could be overturned.