An Auckland councillor has described the council's rejection of a Māori ward for the 2025 local body elections as a "missed opportunity".
The council's governing body yesterday voted 11-9 against the establishment of a Māori ward. It will be able to revisit the decision in 2028.
Māori wards are designated seats on councils that are elected by and directly accountable to voters on the Māori electoral roll.
A recent law-change which removed the 20-person limit on Auckland Council's governing body allowed councillors to consider them for the first time.
Auckland's first wahine Māori councillor Kerrin Leoni and Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina joined Breakfast this morning to discuss what they think of the vote.
Auckland councillors Kerrin Leoni and Alf Filipaina joined Breakfast this morning to discuss the council's rejection of a ward for the 2025 local body elections. (Source: Breakfast)
"I'm feeling really sad about how things went yesterday, because we had a huge opportunity to get our first Māori ward councillors in, and unfortunately, we missed that opportunity," Leoni said.
"We know that right around the country more than half of the councils now have voted in Māori wards. Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau, has the biggest Māori population, and we've missed out."
There are currently 35 councils that have Māori wards or constituencies, however Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon told reporters in August that Māori wards would likely be repealed under a National-led government.
Leoni said her concern about the vote was the level of "misinformation" that may have occurred.
"I think there was a lot of misinformation that was shared and unfortunately that infiltrated through to some of the councillors and how they spoke yesterday."
The option of having Māori wards should be available, Leoni said.
"Māori constituents should be able to vote for a Māori ward councillor, and have a strong Māori voice at that table."
Filipaina said it was "a bad day for Māori".
"I feel sorry for the people who presented those who opposed it, because what they've said when they've come in — totally wrong. I feel sorry for them, because they're a bit lost. They're not going to end up educating themselves around Te Tiriti o Waitangi."
Filipaina said the need to have "Māori around the decision table" was great.
"It's the governing body we were talking about, we need Māori voices — Māori who have a mandate to speak on their behalf, but also speak on the full well-beings that the Honourable Nanaia Mahuta put back in."
In 2019, Mahuta proposed a programme to help local governments be more aware of constituents social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being.
When asked if having specific seats for a specific race was racist, Filipaina said: "How are we going to get them around the decision-making table? People that have a mandate to speak on behalf of Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau get a seat around the decision-making table."
Yesterday's vote followed two months of consultation and more than 11,000 submissions, mostly from non-Māori who overwhelmingly opposed the idea.
Tāmaki Makaurau has the largest Māori population in New Zealand. Māori make up 11.5% of the area's population.
Nearly 70% of submissions from non-Māori (68%) rejected the Māori wards proposal.
Over half (54%) of the 1300 Māori respondents supported them and almost all (87%) of the 17 Māori organisations who gave feedback, including Te Whānau o Waipareira, agreed.
Auckland Council already has a form of Māori representation in the form of the independent Māori statutory board but its members can only make decisions at a committee level, not at the governing body level.
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