This is my brief take on Māori wards, and why I think they aren’t a healthy way forward. A lot of people have already made up their mind and some have even already voted, and that’s just fine. This is only one person’s point of view which you can take or leave – and either way, I don’t think it will be a train smash if Māori wards stay or go – least of all for Māori.
We could get into all sorts of questions like what was or wasn’t committed to in the Treaty of Waitangi, but Māori wards are really just about one thing: representation in a democracy. If that’s not happening as has been claimed, then it’s a problem that deserves to be fixed. But the issue with Māori wards as I see it, is that they cannot – and will not – do that.
Democracy only works if people show up to vote and understand why they’re voting. I worry that carving out separate electoral wards for any group not only doesn’t strengthen that process, it is actually a recipe to weaken it. It creates a space where voter engagement can wither even further, and where candidates can succeed not through broad support but because of low turnout and political alignment with specific vested interests. That will be a cost for all of us to bear.
We should also take a few lessons from history.
Māori seats in Parliament were introduced in the 19th century as a very practical way of giving Māori men without individual land titles the ability to vote. But what was originally intended as a temporary fix has now become a permanent feature, and one that arguably hasn’t delivered on its promise of better outcomes for Māori.
And remember when New Zealand went nuclear-free in 1987? Can anyone even recall the actual reasons why? For a refresher, you can read about it here. Ever since then, I believe we’ve been basking in a kind of self-righteous glow that often outweighs the practicalities. Māori wards risk heading down the same track — symbolic, entrenched, and ultimately ineffective at solving the real issues (if they even get remembered).
The reality is there is no such thing as a ‘temporary fix’ in politics. Once baked in, a thing can hang around long after its purpose is done.
Māori are not children, and yet Māori wards treat them as if they are – that’s demeaning to everyone. Life throws challenges at all of us in different ways, but the most important breakthroughs don’t come from handouts – they come from within.
There’s a well-known proverb: “If you give a man a fish, he will be hungry tomorrow. If you teach a man to fish, he will be richer forever.”
Māori wards are like giving the fish, and I think we can do much better than that.
Councillor Duncan reporting in again on another Friday report, now just 36 sleeps until local body election day on October 11. And the snow has finally arrived! Yes the ski season has finally kicked off after a good dump earlier in the week and more is on the way. Wednesday was a truly bluebird day up on the slopes and I was one of those who downed tools and made the very most of it, so thankyou to the taxpayers of New Zealand who so generously donated $50M plus to keep it all going. Another $100M or so to get the Chateau up and running and we will be set for the future.
By the way, I have three campaign priorities for myself which next week I will start posting on: 1/ Restore Democracy 2/ Take Back Control of Council and 3/ Cap Rates to Inflation.
This week:
Cossie club was cosy alright: This week we had an especially interesting event put on by the Taupō Residents Group (TRG) on Tuesday night for Taupō ward candidates at the Cosmopolitan Club with a full house attendance I reckon of about 300 at least. Unless you are complete brick wall, I think most people in the room were hankering for change with the recording available here. We got to hear a little from both old and new Taupō ward candidates, and incidentally the 90 sec candidate interviews are available on the Council website here. Will I be one of those changed? We will just have to wait until October 11 to find out.
Another candidates meeting worth watching: This one hosted by Voices For Freedom (VFF) on 28th August and included Mayoral candidates John Funnell and Zane Cozens, along with the Let’s Go Taupo team of Ann Tweedie, Rebecca Stafford and Hope Woodward. So if you want to hear a little more about what these candidates are all about you can watch here.
Conflated or conflicted interests? In case you missed it, my mid-week article on this very grey area of elected members and Council business is to be found here.
Still banging on about Māori wards: Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell wasn’t too happy at having her own words thrown back at her from 2022 that the introduction of Māori wards had actually diminished Māori representation. Personally, I would like to see some of the positive outcomes more clearly put forth as to why they are a good idea, and especially from some of the current elected Councilor’s who decided to introduce them back in 2020 – because all I have heard so far from them is either deafening silence or rhetorical gesturing.
I wish to also remind that basically ALL of your current elected members endorsed this May 2024 submission from the Mayoropposing the government’s position to establish that the future of Māori wards be decided by public referendum. I wrote my own submission not because I necessarily disagreed with the presence of Māori Wards, but because I was uncomfortable with the assumptions being made on behalf of our community. The Council letter included this remarkable assertion:
“Through public consultation we have seen that opposition stems from a common misconception that proportionate representation can be achieved democratically through equal voting rights without a Māori ward”.
It then proceeded to ’empirically prove’ that a minority group (such as Māori) cannot be fairly represented unless a ward system is created for them. That’s quite a leap – it assumes people vote according to ethnic identity alone, and if Māori candidates don’t get elected in general wards then it’s because the majority voted them out. I don’t believe this is how most Taupō residents see democracy. I found the logic surprisingly simplistic and quite frankly, embarrassing.
I see that Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board is encouraging voter participation, and I applaud that because it seems to me that Māori Wards are very much a band-aid solution to the much larger problem of voter apathy. Given that Māori apparently comprise about 30% of the districts population, if that issue can be properly dealt with then in a few year’s time we could get Māori voters wanting the two Māori wards scrapped simply because they are holding them back.
Shared Paths a battleground in Christchurch: Onto something lighter, and apparently those shared paths for cyclists and pedestrians are getting some bad press further south. I can’t say that I have pedaled into more than just a couple of pedestrians on our own lakeside path. It isn’t a big deal around here, is it?
Let’s go Nuclear – literally: I reckon we already have the look with some of those geothermal towers towards Reporoa, so why don’t we just go all the way to nuclear as Thomas Scrimgeour of the Maxim Insititute puts forth. It’s all very well to talk about going electric and saving the planet, but we have to make it happen somehow and just imagine all the local jobs it would generate. We only need to get Taupō locals on board, and the government. It costs around $10-15B to build a single nuclear power station, so if the government had only spent the $70B on covid relief on these instead I reckon we could have transformed all of our futures for the better.
Most awake or most awoke? Wellington is the first place in the country to adopt a rainbow action plan, with this article even including an interactive map to see where the rainbow communities are densest. Guess what – it’s in the cities.
Council having secret agendas, surely not! Marlborough District Council gets a wrap on the knuckles from the Ombudsman for keeping things to themselves more than they should and holding unjustified workshops outside public view. Taupō District Council more or less got a clean bill of health the last time they were investigated in 2022/23, but I reckon the Ombudsman was having an off day back then because I think transparency is certainly not this Council’s best attribute. Perhaps we are just better at covering our tracks, and as I said at the time: What about all the workshops which don’t happen?
Now that’s what I call a campaign launch! A couple of weeks ago I attended the campaign launch of Robert Lee mayoral candidate for Rotorua, and it included a slideshow presentation with some of the challenges Rotorua is facing like the emergency housing hangover from covid. They have some challenges that we haven’t had to face in Taupō, but we also have a lot of things in common. Well worth a watch for Taupōites too.
Are your other elected candidates taking the pledge from Taxpayer’s Union? If not, I think you should be asking them: Why not? I think it helps to pose the question if rates aren’t tagged to inflation, in 20 years time how do they think people on a fixed income (e.g. pensioners) will be able to afford to stay in their own homes? I say something has to be done, and it has to be done NOW.
Friday old school gets interesting: Australian politician Bob Katter after he takes offence at being called Lebanese but still walking with anti-immigration marches.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 26 August from 1pm, your elected members of Taupō District Council will vote on a bundle of plan changes – some necessary and worthwhile, others quietly political.
One of them, Plan Change 47, proposes a new ‘Māori Purpose Zone’ – a separate planning framework for Māori land. Meeting agendas can be found here, and I will tell you now that tomorrows is a bit of a long read.
Let me be clear: I support removing barriers to Māori development. But I do not support doing so by bypassing public scrutiny, skipping alternatives, or building a parallel zoning regime.
Here’s the deal:
1️⃣ No other options – such as planning overlays or targeted infrastructure support (e.g. deferred Development Contributions)- have been presented to Councillors. That breaches Section 77 of the Local Government Act, which requires all practicable alternatives to be considered.
2️⃣ No exemption has been granted by the relevant government Minister to proceed. Yet Council is voting to proceed on it anyway – assuming legal approval will magically follow, or that it’ll be politically awkward to reverse later.
3️⃣ It’s being marketed as a ‘housing initiative’. But this is really about changing how planning rules apply based on group identity – not about increasing public housing, affordability, or urban supply.
Sound familiar?
Just like with the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) debate, elected members and the public are being told one thing – while staff quietly push something else entirely. Your elected members have had no workshops or meetings to properly discuss, and it is being bundled up with a pile of other stuff to help get it through.
Yes, this one will go out for public consultation – and that’s the right step. But: Will you be told the full story? And when submissions roll in: Will anyone actually listen?
I’m not here to make noise for the sake of it, but my instincts are telling me this is once again being railroaded. And in my experience of these particular Council Chambers, that often means there’s no room made for dissent, and no interest in real debate. Funny how all that changed when there was a lot of people in the room for the JMA decision a few weeks ago.
This isn’t about race. It’s about transparency, process, and one law for all. Isn’t that what we all want?
Addendum: For those interested, it looks like the Māori Purpose Zone was in fact discussed for about five minutes at a sparsely attended Council workshop on 27 May 2025. You can watch the recording here to see how it was presented.
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