Outgoing Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson has suspended the emergency meeting in Mangawhai on Thursday evening, instead choosing to hold it on Friday morning.
The decision came after a member of the public stood up to stand closer to the councillors, with Jepson standing up and yelling at the person to sit down. When the person refused, the mayor cut the meeting short and called for it to be continued at 9 am the following morning.
Outside, while the mayor was getting into his car, he told media he adjourned it due to it becoming too “unruly.”
“We can’t operate a meeting when people aren’t behaving themselves.”
The mayor called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to approve a complaint and request an investigation into the 2025 Kaipara District Council election and Northland Māori constituency referendum.
Many councillors during the meeting questioned whether it was justified to call it an emergency on the eve of the official local election results being announced.
With the council lawyer, Simpson Grierson, saying in his opinion that the agenda had “no immediate time requirement that needs to be met,” meaning an emergency meeting was not needed.
Preliminary results showed Jonathan Larsen, a candidate Jepson had endorsed, in the lead for new mayor, with iwi leader Snow Tāne just behind by five votes.
The first and last Kaipara Māori Ward councillor, Pera Paniora, said she was confident that there would be a change of leadership once those special votes are counted.
“As we have seen, this is a last-ditch attempt to try and circumvent the process and to stop the official results being declared tomorrow.”
Kaipara District Council voted against Māori Wards in 2024, meaning its seat was removed in the 2025 local election.
Peter Linnel, the man behind the meeting being adjourned, told Te Ao Māori News it was his first time ever protesting, with him calling the emergency meeting a “travesty of democracy”.
“I think this is serious, that a Northland area shouldn’t have the fullest Māori representation. I believe in equity, equality and fairness. And when you’ve got 25% of a community which has not allowed its own Maori ward.”
He wore his father’s WWII uniform, including the pilot’s hat.
“He put his life on the line to fight fascism.
“He actually fought actual fascists, Germany and Italy, in World War II.”
