A new law means dozens of local councils have a month to decide if they will disestablish their Māori wards or keep them and hold a poll on their future – and the issue has already been subject to varied responses.
Kaipara District Council voted to disestablish its Māori ward amid heated protests yesterday, while Palmerston North City Council voted unanimously to keep its Te Pūao Māori Ward.
The Kaipara District Council Māori ward will remain until the next local election, when it will cease to exist. (Source: 1News)
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua filed legal proceedings against the Kaipara District Council ahead of its vote yesterday and warned it would file an injunction if the council decided to disestablish the ward.
Palmerston North City Council, meanwhile, said it is looking at the implications of refusing to hold a referendum on the future of its Māori ward at next year’s local elections. A report on the matter is due to be presented at an upcoming council meeting, it said.
The ACT Party celebrated Kaipara District Council’s vote to disestablish its Māori ward yesterday, but its Local Government spokesperson Cameron Luxton told 1News Palmerston North City Council was “playing with fire” with its investigations around not holding a referendum.
“Ratepayers struggling to make ends meet in the face of double-digit rate hikes expect their councillors to focus on the basics of service and infrastructure delivery,” he said. “Instead, councillors in Palmy are using their privileged position to grandstand against a government they don’t like.”
Luxton said the legislation passed by the Government was very clear in its requirement for councils like Palmerston North to repeal Māori wards or put them to a referendum.
“Coming from Tauranga I’ve experienced firsthand one option available to the Minister – having the council replaced with commissioners. That would be an even bigger blow to democracy than the council refusing a referendum.”
Minister for Local Government Simeon Brown told 1News: "Councils must follow the law as passed by Parliament."
The transitional process ahead for Māori wards
Forty-five councils around New Zealand have established or resolved to establish Māori wards since a law change in 2021 stripped a provision that had previously allowed communities to veto Māori wards in a vote.
But the National-led Government officially rolled back Labour’s changes last week, with a new law requiring those 45 councils to make decisions around their Māori wards.
Councils now have until September 6 to decide whether to rescind or disestablish their Māori wards or keep their Māori wards and hold a poll on their future at next year’s local elections.
If councils choose the latter, they must fund the referendum themselves.
Disestablishing vs keeping Māori wards
It's sparked outrage from the organisation representing local councils, as Political Editor Maiki Sherman explains. (Source: 1News)
According to the Department of Internal Affairs, councils that decide to disestablish the Māori wards they have established since 2020 can either:
- complete a shortened representative review process by early April 2025, or
- revert to their most recent representation arrangements before Māori wards were established – however this second option only applies to councils whose previous arrangements meet legal requirements for fair and effective representation.
Councils that have voted to establish Māori wards since the 2022 local elections will have similar choices if they decide to rescind their decision to create those wards.
Councils that decide to keep their Māori wards must hold a binding poll on them at next year’s local elections. The results of their local referendum will take effect at the 2028 local elections.
There are some exceptions to this.
Tauranga City Council has until November 30, 2026 to decide whether to disestablish its Māori ward with effect from 2028 or hold a binding poll in the 2028 local elections. This is because Tauranga has only recently held its local elections.
Councils that already had Māori wards established before Labour’s changes to the law in 2021 - Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Waikato Regional Council, and Wairoa District Council - are not affected by the transitional arrangements in the new Act.
From October 2025, councils can hold binding polls on Māori wards and people can petition their local council to hold one. These polls will have the same settings as those prior to 2021.
The Government’s new Act has also removed the legal requirement for councils to consider Māori wards every six years during representation reviews.
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