A "very controversial" bill that would allow an equal number of Māori and general seats on Rotorua's district council is likely to be withdrawn.
The Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill courted controversy last year from critics who said the bill would undermine democracy.
A report by Attorney General David Parker found the bill would discriminate against general ward voters and not consistent with the Bill of Rights.
The council today confirmed the total cost to ratepayers was more than $146,000.
The bill arose due to the previous council's - under the leadership of former mayor Steve Chadwick - desire to enable a representation model with an equal number of Māori ward seats and general ward seats.
However, that was not possible due to the Local Electoral Act, which limits the number of Māori seats based on population numbers. As Rotorua's Māori electorate population was about 28% of the total enrolled voters in the district, 50% representation was not allowed under the Act.
The council's local bill sought to override that rule and create a unique exception for the district. The bill was sponsored by Labour list MP Tāmati Coffey, who is based in Rotorua.
The bill was introduced to Parliament in March last year and was referred to the Māori Affairs select committee, which is chaired by Coffey.
After Parker's report in April, Labour's support for the bill fell away and the council decided to "pause" the bill while it sought further advice - but not before one councillor quit on the spot in protest after Chadwick expressed the view the council should discuss the issue in a public-excluded part of the meeting.
Mayor Tania Tapsell, who was elected in October last year, promised shortly after the election she would make moves to scrap the bill.
However, yesterday, at a Rotorua Lakes Council meeting, the council voted - with one against - to withdraw its support of the bill.
In the meeting, Rotorua Lakes Council Te Arawa partnerships deputy chief executive Gina Rangi said the bill had been "very very controversial" locally as well as nationally.
Councillor Robert Lee said democracy was "tapu" and the bill could cause elections to be a "sham".
He said democracy was the will of the people and had been fought for through wars.
Councillor Karen Barker said in her view local consultation on the bill's progression was "sadly lacking".
Rawiri Waru, who is a councillor elected via the council's Māori ward, said tapu related to the Ātua - the gods - not something "man-made" such as democracy, and democracy was in his interpretation the rule of the majority.
"My tupuna also went to war... yet when our people came home, their lands were taken, farmed out, given to other soldiers. These are histories and things we need to take into account."
Tapsell, her deputy Sandra Kai Fong and councillors Conan O’Brien, Lee, Don Paterson, Gregg Brown, Barker, Fisher Wang, and Lani Kereopa voted to withdraw support for the bill.
Waru voted in favour of confirming support for it, and councillor Trevor Maxwell was absent with apologies.
Tapsell will now write to the Māori Affairs select committee to advise the council's withdrawal of support for the bill.
Rotorua Lakes Council spokesman Greg Taipari confirmed the council spent $143,905 on legal fees, $230 on social media and $2280.74 on public notices in aid of pursuing the bill, a total of $146,416.
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