Waikato District Council news
Waikato District Council has voted to establish Maaori wards for the 2022 and 2025 local
authority elections. Mayor Allan Sanson says the historic decision builds on Waikato
District Council’s commitment to strengthening the Maaori voice and role in Council decision
making.
“In 2019 we created full-voting committee member roles called Maangai Maaori on our three
principal standing committees. This has been hugely successful,” he says.
“Over recent years we have consistently built stronger and closer working relationships with our
Iwi partners. This decision today for us, as a local authority in the heart of the Kiingitanga, is
simply the next logical step and frankly it’s just the right thing to do.”
Establishing Maaori wards aligns with the general views of Waikato iwi and hapuu, with the
principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and with Council’s legislative obligations to facilitate and foster
Maaori participation in Council’s decision-making.
Today’s decision follows a Council resolution earlier in May to revoke an earlier decision not to
establish Maaori wards for the 2022 local authority elections. The revocation was undertaken
because of the passing of Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment
Act 2021, which repealed provisions in the Local Electoral Act 2001 for holding polls on whether
to establish Maaori wards.
The changes to legislation enabled all councils to reconsider any earlier resolution this triennium
on the establishment of Maaori wards, extending the deadline for any decision to establish
Maaori wards until 21 May 2021.
Today’s decision does not determine the number of Maaori wards or if the Maaori ward
councillors will be elected via a single district-wide ward or via smaller geographic wards.
But the establishment of Maaori wards will now be factored into Council’s Representation
Review, a statutory process currently under way to determine the number of councillors and
wards, and the number of councillors per ward.
The Council report outlining the background to this decision is available here.