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(Image: Getty)
(Image: Getty)

ĀteaSeptember 7, 2020

What’s the big fuss about Māori seats on councils?

(Image: Getty)
(Image: Getty)

Annie Te One explains why embedding Māori representation in local government shouldn’t be such a big deal. 

After the next local elections, Tauranga City Council will join Wairoa District Council and Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils in being the only local governments with designated Māori wards. Debates over Māori representation in local government, whether about designated Māori seats or voting rights on committees, are ongoing. Many arguments against Māori representation are well known but confusion still exists about the whole topic. Below are some common questions and concerns, answered.

Are local governments the Crown? Because if they aren’t, do they have obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi?

Local governments receive their powers from the Crown and are therefore expected to uphold the governing principles and responsibilities the Crown has. This includes responsibilities to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which is referenced in important local government legislation, including section four of the Local Government Act 2002.

Do Māori seats encourage separatism and racial inequality?

No, designated Māori seats on local government are in fact aimed at working towards creating equality in decision-making and ensuring there is better collaboration with Māori. Māori wards and constituencies are one avenue through which councils can uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and other statutory obligations to include Māori in decision-making. Currently, only about 10% of councillors are Māori, so having Māori seats is one way we can work towards more equal representation in local government.

But maybe if more Māori stood as candidates they’d get elected – what’s stopping them?

Many Māori do in fact stand as candidates in local elections, but many struggle to gain a support base if they seek to champion Māori political rights. Having designated Māori seats is one way Māori voices can be sure to be heard, while still giving Māori constituencies the exact same rights as the rest of the community to cast a single vote for a candidate they prefer.

But if you aren’t voted in by the public, you shouldn’t have a say in council decisions, should you?

Local governments already appoint, and pay, numerous experts who are not councillors to sit on committees and sub-committees. This is to ensure the decisions they make are well informed by experts in different fields. When the first forms of British-informed local government were set up in Wellington in the 1840s, they had surveyors (who were not councillors) present at all council meetings to help develop the city plans. Mana whenua have expertise over their lands and resources that is essential to council decision-making and will make for better-informed decisions that benefit the entire community.

Māori need to win a seat based on their own merit, not through a designated Māori seat.

Being elected to a Māori seat is Māori winning a seat based on their own merit.

Mana whenua can be involved for pōwhiri and ceremony, but not with actual decision-making.

Yes, mana whenua can and should be involved in council ceremonies, if they want to, but simply inviting Māori to open events is not the same as a Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership. It also ignores the fact pōwhiri and ceremonies are part of wider Māori political practices that in many instances open the floor for political discussion and debate.

Giving Māori a voice on councils will give them more say than other members of the public, won’t it?

Māori are underrepresented in local government politics, so a concern they will have too much say is overstated. More importantly, though, Māori perspectives are not in opposition to the rest of the community; Māori voices come from the public and are good for everyone.

Māori are only 3% of the population in our city and that is too few to warrant a Māori seat.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is not based on population. Partnership is not dependent on population. In fact, during the debates over Māori seats in Auckland in 2009, the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance argued that even if the Māori population were to decrease, Māori representation would be even more important to ensure Māori perspectives are maintained in local decision-making.

But Te Tiriti o Waitangi doesn’t say anything about Māori representation in local government.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is explicit that Māori tino rangatiratanga is reaffirmed. This means Māori have the right to be directly involved in the governance of natural resources and other matters in Aotearoa. Tools such as Māori seats, or voting rights on council committees and sub-committees, are one way of working toward tino rangatiratanga. Te Tiriti is also essentially about partnership, which can begin to be met through guaranteed Māori representation.

Local government is doing enough already, with mana whenua consulted on numerous issues.

Many local governments are engaging with Māori in various ways, but, with no accountability measures on what ‘consultation’ actually means, engagement does not always result in Māori voices being clearly taken into account. Mana whenua knowledge is essential and specific expertise, and needs to be treated as such. This can be acknowledged through paid positions, voting rights and guaranteed Māori seats, all of which demonstrate the value of Māori knowledge.

Dr Annie Te One (Te Ātiawa,  Ngāti Mutunga) is a lecturer in Te Kawa a Māui/School of Māori Studies at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.

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(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

OPINIONPoliticsSeptember 7, 2020

Five ways the next government can be an honourable Treaty partner

(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Whoever is successful on October 17, there is urgent work that needs doing to meet obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Laura O’Connell Rapira offers five to begin with.

In 1840, Māori rangatira and representatives of the British Crown signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

The Māori text, which is the version of the Treaty recognised under international law, gave the British monarchy the power to control British people in this land, and guaranteed Māori would retain tino rangatiratanga over our people, land and taonga

So why does the British Crown via New Zealand parliament govern everyone and everything in this land today? And what can the next government do to truly honour Te Tiriti? 

Below I explore five crowdsourced ideas from te ao Māori.

Return Ihumātao

Lots of good writing has been done about Ihumātao. The tl;dr is the government stole the land at Ihumātao from Māori in the 1860s and it’s long pastime they gave it back. 

Defund Oranga Tamariki and fund Māori solutions

Last year, over 17,000 people signed an open letter calling for transformative change of Oranga Tamariki. Among other demands, the letter calls for all decisions regarding the wellbeing of tamariki Māori to be made by whānau, hapū and iwi, and for the government to hand over resources to hapū, iwi and Kaupapa Māori organisations to ensure the wellbeing of whānau.

For inspiration on how we might achieve this, we can look to our Indigenous whānau in Canada. After more than 35 years of protest, two royal commissions, a swag of class action lawsuits, two government settlements involving billions of dollars, and an official apology to state care survivors, the federal government finally passed Bill C-92

Bill C-92 affirms the right and jurisdiction of First Nations people to self-determine child and family services according to their knowledge, languages, values, and worldviews. The role of the federal government is to provide First Nations people with the funds to operate their own child and family care and protection services according to their cultural practices. 

Given that review after review has shown that Oranga Tamariki fails Māori, the next government should transfer the ministry’s decision-making power and resources regarding iwi, whānau and hapū to iwi, whānau and hapū. Lest they end up with a class-action lawsuit on their hands.

Guarantee at least 25% of government contracts to Māori

Each year, the government spends $42 billion on a wide range of goods and services. The Māori Party would like 25% of those contracts to go to Māori. 

In Australia, the federal government’s Indigenous Procurement Strategy has resulted in 12,000 new government contracts with Indigenous-owned businesses growing their revenue from $6 million to almost $2 billion in just two years. In Canada, Britain, the US and South Africa policies like this have resulted in a significant rise in the number of Indigenous-owned businesses, improving the lives of Indigenous communities.

Businesses can also do their part, as honourable Treaty partners, by adopting Indigenous procurement strategies. In a country that spends over $600 billion annually on government and business contracts, the potential for economic transformation is huge.

Make Matariki a public holiday

The people have spoken: we want a Matariki public holiday.

Adopt Te Mana o te Wai

Te Mana o te Wai is a set of freshwater recommendations for government that was developed by an impressive and diverse group of Māori experts. It outlines a “hierarchy of obligations” that should inform all decision making around freshwater use and says that the first obligation must be to protect the health and mauri of the water itself. The second is to provide for essential human health needs, such as drinking water and the third is to enable other use, provided that it does not negatively impact the mauri of the water. 

In other words, Te Mana o Te Wai says that all decisions regarding our freshwater should prioritise the health of the planet first, then people, then profit. A new independent commission should be established to ensure this approach is upheld and 50% of the commissioners should be Māori. 

In a country with rivers as polluted as ours, with a penchant for shipping our precious water overseas, we need a fundamental shift in the way freshwater is managed.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship in which Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti share care and responsibility for this land and all of the people in it. 

This list is a good place for the next government to start honouring their part of the agreement.

But wait there's more!