According to current preliminary results from last week’s referendum on the disestablishment of Māori wards on local council, close to half a million people voted yes to Māori wards, and if the question of Māori wards were to be put to a national referendum, Māori wards would be mandatory for all local councils in Aotearoa.
Revised estimates indicate that those who voted no now total just over 400,000, creating a margin of almost 100,000 votes in favour of Māori wards.
Te Ao Māori News asked New Zealand First’s Shane Jones on what he thought of the numbers. Jones says while the figures are quite revealing, the decision must be left to individual councils and their voters to decide.
“Āe, āe kite au i ēnā whika e kōrerotia nei e koe, engari ko te tikanga e tama, mā ngā kaipōti o tēnā wāhi rohe, o tēnā wāhi rohe e whakatau, mehemea ka āminengia kia ū tonu ai ngā wāri Māori,” says Shane Jones.
Māori wards not as clear cut as some made it out to be
Much has been made of the country’s supposed opposition to Māori wards on local council.
Both the ACT Party and lobby group Hobon’s Pledge made concerted efforts, with large public campaigns to sway public opinion on Māori wards.
One of the most contentious moments in Hobson’s Pledge’s campaign came when the group used a photograph of Ellen Tamati - a kuia bearing a moko kauae - on billboards that read, “My mana doesn’t need a mandate. Vote no to Māori wards.”
Tamati says she never gave permission for her image to be used and that the slogan went against her values, leaving her hurt and misrepresented.
While in 2023, ACT targeted Māori wards. It promised to repeal the “race-based” local government equivalent of the Māori parliamentary electorates.
“ACT will restore one person, one vote to local government by scrapping race-based representation altogether,” ACT leader David Seymour said at the time.
“ACT will repeal race-based Māori wards altogether.”
Shane Jones says the turnout shows Aotearoa is not totally against Māori representation.
“He tohu hoki ki mātou ngā kaitōrangapū tēnei hīkoi, me aha ngā wāri Māori, me aha ngā tūranga Māori, i roto i te whare pāremata me āta hīkoi,” says Jones.
Low turnout still a problem for local elections
Statistics show low numbers of people voted in this year’s Māori wards referendums, with most regions, only reaching 35% to 40% of voters who took part. Some areas had even fewer people voting.
For example, in Whanganui, it was recorded that a small number of people had sent in their votes early on, and managed to retain their Māori wards with just over 600 votes in favour.
Whanganui District Council:
The vote to keep the Māori ward was narrowly successful, with 7,882 votes in favour and 7,262 votes against, with other regions facing similar outcomes.
Ruapehu District Council:
Voted to keep the Māori ward with 2,022 votes in favour and 1,932 voting agains.
Furthermore, Jones says he has no control of regional voter turnout.
“Kore tāea e mātou te aruaru i a wai rānei kia puta ki te pōti, pēnei e ngoikore ana, E hauare ana rātou, he korenga nō rātou te whai kaha ki te pōti kaua rawa e noho atu ki te kainga amuamu ai,” says Jones.
