A move to pay and give voting rights to tangata whenua sitting on Wellington City Council subcommittees has been blocked by some councillors.
Photo: 123RF
During a discussion on whether to change the voting system and processes for the next two elections, Northern Ward Councillor Jill Day called for a report to be done on giving mana whenua voting rights and remuneration.
Representatives from the two Wellington mana whenua groups - Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Taranaki Whānui - sit on the Strategy and Policy Committee and Annual/Long Term Plan Committee but they are unpaid and unable to vote.
Wellington City councillor Sean Rush Photo: WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL
A group of six councillors stood and sang a waiata after Day's motion, during which Eastern Ward councillor Sean Rush turned and faced the window with his arms crossed.
Lambton Ward councillor Tamatha Paul said this was disrespectful.
"People who are privileged in the way the world is set up and the system is set up, when they are asked to concede a little bit of that power they feel threatened and I think that was really symbolised in the disrespect of that action today," Paul said.
After the waiata, Rush raised a point of order to say the amendment was "out of scope of the report", which Mayor Andy Foster ruled in favour of.
Rush said it was coincidental that he turned away from the waiata and he apologised to Day.
"I regularly turn and gaze out that window and that's all I did, it certainly wasn't meant to be disrespectful to mana whenua or to iwi or to Māori," Rush said.
However, he said he stood by blocking Day's proposal and said more information was needed on the legality of "appointing people to subcommittees based on their family heritage.
"There are Bill of Rights issues, there are United Nations commitments as well, there are race discrimination issues - these are the sorts of things that need to be fleshed out but it just wasn't the right place and the right time to be talking about it," Rush said.
Tamatha Paul Photo: Supplied
Paul disagreed that it wasn't the right time to raise the issue.
"It's been 180 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed so if not now, then when - so we actually felt like we needed to force this decision," she said.
Day tabled a notice of motion which would also request a report on mana whenua representation, although she said it would now take longer.
"It's a shame that my colleagues have chosen to be disrespectful to a process that is still important - there is a connection, this is about representation," she said.
Even though she supported having a Māori ward, she did not bring it forward in the proposal as it had not been recommended by council staff and did not have the support of all mana whenua.
"I was looking for a way to constructively find another way to have mana whenua at the table because we're constantly making decisions and asking them for their expert advice, their knowledge, there's just so much we gain from having a mana whenua voice in this," Day said.
"Mana whenua have such an important perspective when it comes to Te Taiao (the environment) and how we respect that and how we make decisions in respect to that, that we can only benefit."
Tauranga City Council voted yesterday to establish a Māori ward and give voting rights to the mana whenua representatives sitting on four of their council committees.
