Late in 2017 Councillors in five regions voted, without seeking prior public approval, to establish separate Maori wards. As a result, dedicated locals, supported by Hobson’s Pledge, were forced to collect the required number of signatures to force binding referenda to see what the public actually thought. And the results were clear: the public rejected race-based wards.
- Palmerston North (68.8%)
- Western Bay of Plenty (78.2%)
- Whakatane (56.4%)
- Manawatu (77%)
- Kaikoura (80%).
Since then, Hastings District and Otago Regional Councils circumvented public opinion by appointing Maori with voting rights to Council committees.
But it is expensive and time-consuming to gather signatures for referenda, and very difficult to challenge Council appointees. The best way to avoid creating a Council that treats its citizens as members of a particular ethnicity (which apparently are all alike and think the same way), rather than as individuals, is to vote for candidates who reject racial separatism.
We will be endeavouring to list candidates’ stance on Maori Wards, Maori Appointees and other race-based issues.
We think that Councillors should be elected on merit
Know your candidates
We will be endeavouring to list candidates’ stance on Maori Wards, Maori Appointees and other race-based issues.
Candidates are invited to log on to this website to present their position more fully by making a statement on the relevant page.
- We reject the need for separate Maori Wards as unnecessary and patronising
- We reject the appointment of Maori with voting rights to committees (simply because they are “Maori”) as unnecessary and undemocratic
- We reject the transfer and delegation of Council powers to iwi under the Resource Management Act as an undemocratic usurpation of power
Questions to ask Candidates
You can help determine Candidates’ opinions by asking the following questions:
If elected, would you vote in favour of separate wards for Maori voters?
If elected, would you vote in favour of appointing unelected Maori with voting rights to Council committees?
If a candidate won’t clearly answer NO to both of these questions, they probably support race-based discrimination.
The Resource Management Act
The Resource Management Act now allows Councils to transfer or delegate powers to local iwi for managing natural resources such as waterways and even resource consenting under what are called “Iwi Participation Agreements”.
If elected, would you vote in favour of transferring or delegating powers to local tribal trusts?
The Marine and Coastal Area Act
Your Council has not taken any steps to defend public rights over local beaches and seabed under the Marine and Coastal Area Act.
If elected, would you vote in favour of Council taking action to defend public rights against tribal claims over local harbours, beaches and seabed?
Questions for Auckland candidates
Independent Maori Statutory Board
The Independent Maori Statutory Board costs ratepayers millions of dollars each year and is represented by two members with voting rights on Council committees. Its apparent purpose is to impose separatist policies on the Council and region, and there is no accountability to the ratepayers who fund it.
If elected, would you support an approach to government to abolish the Independent Maori Statutory Board?
If elected, would you support continuing Council’s practice of giving Maori tribal trusts and Maori owned businesses priority over other Aucklanders?
Hauraki Gulf Co-governance
We think that our elected representatives should wholly reject anti-democratic co-governance arrangements.
If elected, would you vote in favour of co-governance of Hauraki Gulf marine areas as proposed by the Sea Change Marine Spatial Plan?
Maunga Co-governance
Auckland’s co-governance of the maungas is creating a hotbed of unrest with evidence of bullying by tribal representatives, cowering councillors and dissatisfied public.
What would you do about this?
