Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has denied the co-governance of public entities, such as that in the current Three Waters legislation, is undemocratic, but is not committed to keeping it in its current form.
Under the legislation as it stands, New Zealand's three water services, drinking water, wastewater and stormwater, are to be managed by four new publicly-owned entities rather than local councils.
Speaking on Q+A, Hipkins initially said non-Māori, as the Three Waters legislation stands, "have the same" level of representation in these new entities as Māori.
"Under the model as it exists now, it's a co-governance model, so it's a shared governance model — so it's a 50-50 model," he said.
However, according to Stats NZ, Māori make up 17.4% of New Zealand's population.
Hipkins clarified his answer — "we don't have that at the moment, but we are looking at that again, and we haven't made decisions on what the future of that arrangement will be."
Since the 1890s, when a law change made it so people could only vote in one general electoral district, the one person, on vote principle has been a fundamental feature of New Zealand's electoral system.
When asked whether Three Waters co-governance was democratic in a one person, one vote sense, the prime minister said it means different things in different contexts.
He referred to examples of co-governance arrangements over natural resources, which are "not all 50-50 relationships in some cases and don't always involve two parties".
But on whether it's democratic for non-Māori to not have the same proportionate level of representation in water entities as Māori, Hipkins said the question is a hypothetical one.
"Do I think the Three Waters model is democratic? Yes, I do think it is democratic.
"Every local authority will be represented there," he explained. "Māori people will represented there."
One person, one vote is only one measure of democracy, with some believing representational governance to be more nuanced.
"I think it's a different situation" from representation in Parliament, Hipkins said.
"What we're talking about here is an advisory board that selects a board to govern the entities."
Te Tiriti principles
The prime minister also argued that Māori having a seat at the decision-making table is "something that we signed up to when the Treaty was signed".
However, he does not believe co-governance structures are necessary for all public services to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
"There's a range of different ways we can do that. In some cases, we don't have co-governance — we actually have devolved responsibility ... so you're basically saying to Māori: well, you can make your own decisions, and we will devolve that to you.
"And in different cases, different models can apply. So the Māori Health Authority, it's kind of a bit co-governance, but it's also a bit devolution."
Hipkins referenced Kura Kaupapa Māori, Te Kōhanga Reo and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa as examples of public education services that adopt a "by Māori, for Māori approach".
But when questioned on whether such services are comparable to water — given the fact people can choose where their children are educated but can't choose whether to drink water — he agreed it's "ridiculous" to compare these entities to Three Waters ones.
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