Mike Butler: Councillors who prefer the local tribe

“Gross misjudgement and disrespect” was the lead headline in the Hawke’s Bay Today on Friday after a meeting of the Napier City Council when the new mayor proposed not to include “mana whenua voices and voting rights” on standing committees.

In response, a new Maori ward councillor, Shyann Raihania, proposed an amendment which would retain two “Nga Manukanuka o te iwi” councillors voting to represent tribal interests on those committees.

This amendment was passed six votes to four with two abstaining.

The “Nga Manukanuka o te iwi” last term was the Napier council’s 15-member Maori committee which included a representative from each of Napier’s nine maraes, the council’s kaumatua, plus the mayor and four councillors.

Elected councillors from the Maori committee represent tribal interests on standing committees.

Those who voted for the amendment were new Maori ward councillors Shyann Raihania and Whare Isaac-Sharland, deputy mayor Sally Crown, plus councillors Keith Price, Ronda Chrystal, and Graeme Taylor.

Mayor McGrath, as well as councillors Craig Morley, Nigel Simpson, and Roger Brownlie voted against.

Councillors Te Kira Lawrence and Greg Mawson abstained.

Amendment proponent Raihania is listed as one of the two Nga Manukanuka o te iwi representatives on the Napier City Council. Councillor Taylor is the other.

The “gross misjudgement and disrespect” quote came from Deputy Mayor Sally Crown.

With an average cumulative rates increase over the past three-year council term of an astonishing 34.4 percent, the time spent voicing outrage over tribal involvement in council decision making could be more wisely used to curb council spending.

The use of undefined Maori words in an English language newspaper helps mask what is actually happening. What are the “mana whenua voices”?

The Napier City Council defines “mana whenua voices” as the voices of “the indigenous Maori people who have territorial rights over the land” in the region.

The phrase “territorial rights over the land” is nebulous considering the Crown bought the Ahuriri block which includes the site of Napier in 1851.

Everything you see in and around the pretty tourist destination that is now Napier was created by settlers from Britain since then.

A group named Te Taiwhenua o Te Whanganui a Orotu turns out to be Napier’s “mana whenua” group which claims a 40-year partnership with the Napier City Council.

Ngati Kahungunu ki Te Whanganui-a-Orotu is a tribal division within the Ngati Kahungunu tribe. It’s claimed territory stretches from Wairoa to Wairarapa.

This group signed a treaty settlement of $115-million in October of 2021.

Once such groups receive their treaty settlement money, they are entitled to buy property and set up businesses which may trade as charities without having to pay tax.

Ngati Kahungunu said in the August 25, 2025, edition of the Hawke’s Bay Today that their aim is to advance Maori sovereignty through council representation and has a 25-year plan to do so.

Included a two-page advert in that edition were the names and photos of 63 candidates for eight councils.

Napier’s deputy mayor Sally Crown, new Maori ward councillors Shyann Raihania and Whare Isaac-Sharland, as well as Napier Central general councillor Te Kira Lawrence, were all named in that advert as “inspiring leaders”.

The takeaway from this episode is that tribal preference voting is supported by councillors both in the Maori ward and in general wards who are affiliated with the local treaty settlement recipients but passed by general councillors with no tribal affiliation.

What were the two general councillors with no tribal affiliation who voted for an extra layer of representation for the local tribe thinking?

Source

Deputy mayor hits out at Napier mayor at fourth full meeting of new council: ‘Gross misjudgment and disrespect’. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/deputy-mayor-hits-out-at-napier-mayor-at-fourth-full-meeting-of-new-council-gross-misjudgment-and-disrespect/CKJ5SKMDAVAYHFPTXYLRMVEVTU/

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