Far North District councillors have voted to remove Councillor Davina Smolders from the council’s Te Kūaka committee, following her public criticism of its structure and unelected iwi and hapū representatives.
Before the vote, Smolders challenged Mayor Moko Tepania over whether the motion to remove her should proceed, arguing she had not been allowed to respond to allegations about her conduct.
“This motion seeks adverse consequences against me based on allegations about my conduct,” Smolders said.
The dispute follows months of tension between Smolders and the council over Māori representation, Te Tiriti partnerships and the role of Te Kūaka.
Te Kuaka, the council’s Committee for Māori Strategic Relationships, is made up of six elected councillors alongside iwi and hapū representatives with voting rights. It provides strategic leadership and guidance on Māori issues and makes recommendations to the full council, which retains final decision-making authority.
In July, fellow councillor Hilda Halkyard-Harawira publicly called for Smolders to resign from Te Kuaka, saying she had been waiting since June for Smolders to step aside and accusing her of creating “sideshows” that were overshadowing the committee’s work.
“I have suggested to Cr Smolders she can be just as destructive to Māori outside our Komiti Māori. Te Kuaka Komiti wants to set some positive objectives without her sideshows,” Halkyard-Harawira said at the time.
Smolders has been a vocal critic of Te Kuaka’s structure, previously describing having unelected iwi and hapū representatives sitting alongside elected councillors with voting rights as “undemocratic and extremely concerning.”
Earlier this year, Smolders wrote to Local Government Minister Simon Watts seeking an independent review of the Far North District Council without the backing of fellow elected members. Department of Internal Affairs officials later observed council meetings before determining they were operating as normal.
She has also opposed proposed strategic relationship agreements between the council and five iwi, claiming they would amount to “ceding sovereignty”, something the council has rejected.
At Thursday’s meeting, however, Smolders argued concerns about her conduct should be dealt with through the council’s formal Code of Conduct process rather than through a motion removing her from Te Kuaka.
Smolders said she had not been allowed to respond to the allegations against her or been told that a formal Code of Conduct complaint process had been initiated.
“My legal counsel has formally advised Council that proceeding through a motion of notice in these circumstances risks bypassing that process and denying me that natural justice and procedural fairness.”
She urged the mayor not to allow the motion to proceed.
“I therefore ask that this motion will not proceed to determination and that the complaint be first dealt with through the council’s established code of conduct process.”
Mayor Moko Tepania rejected that argument and allowed the motion to proceed.
“This is not a Code of Conduct hearing; this is simply the power that this council has to appoint moving forward.”
Māori ward councillor Arohanui Allen also rejected the suggestion that the motion would prevent Smolders from continuing to scrutinise Te Kuaka or its work.
“This motion does not silence Councillor Smolders, it does not remove her from the decision-making process, and it does not prevent her from scrutinising or challenging or opposing anything that comes from Te Kuaka.”
Allen said Te Kuaka makes recommendations to the full council, which retains final decision-making authority.
The motion passed 11 votes to three, with councillors Rachel Baucke, Ann Court and Smolders voting against it.
