Under the new law passed by Wellington, if you had done that you need to either drop the seat at next year's local body elections or take it to a vote.
They have voted to take it to a vote. A lot of councils have done the same thing.
I think in totality this is a good thing.
Having race-based seats is wrong. But at the very least you have to give your constituents a say, which has been the crime quite rightly identified and corrected by the Government.
Part of the argument put forward in Hawke’s Bay, as I'm sure it has been in various council meetings, is Māori voices are under threat.
Now, the trouble with that is it simply isn't true and never has been. In that misrepresentation of the facts is the beauty of democracy.
Democracy is alive and well in this country. It's just sadly one of those things we take for granted.
Part of the democratic process is anyone can stand, anyone can have their voices heard, and it's far from being under threat
The fascinating bit now, once all the decisions on elections are made, is how many votes for seats will there be, and will anyone be able to get a majority to actually earn a seat?
If every single vote votes 'no', what has that told us about the entire Māori seat exercise?
Could it be in certain areas, maybe Northland, Gisborne and possibly Hawke’s Bay, that a campaign can be successfully run to get enough numbers over the line, and if that happens does that spur others on?
Could it be that the democratic exercise of actually voting leads to a growth in the number of Māori seats? Imagine that. Success by election, growth by democracy and a voice heard and acted upon in a positive way.
Surely the prospect of that potential is far more satisfying, and satisfactory legally, than the gerrymandered mess we have had up until now?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
Having race-based seats is wrong. But at the very least you have to give your constituents a say, which has been the crime quite rightly identified and corrected by the Government.
Part of the argument put forward in Hawke’s Bay, as I'm sure it has been in various council meetings, is Māori voices are under threat.
Now, the trouble with that is it simply isn't true and never has been. In that misrepresentation of the facts is the beauty of democracy.
Democracy is alive and well in this country. It's just sadly one of those things we take for granted.
Part of the democratic process is anyone can stand, anyone can have their voices heard, and it's far from being under threat
The fascinating bit now, once all the decisions on elections are made, is how many votes for seats will there be, and will anyone be able to get a majority to actually earn a seat?
If every single vote votes 'no', what has that told us about the entire Māori seat exercise?
Could it be in certain areas, maybe Northland, Gisborne and possibly Hawke’s Bay, that a campaign can be successfully run to get enough numbers over the line, and if that happens does that spur others on?
Could it be that the democratic exercise of actually voting leads to a growth in the number of Māori seats? Imagine that. Success by election, growth by democracy and a voice heard and acted upon in a positive way.
Surely the prospect of that potential is far more satisfying, and satisfactory legally, than the gerrymandered mess we have had up until now?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
Councils are just kicking the can down the road. If they lose the referendum vote they can't be called racist which is what the would be called if they canned wards now.
Apartheid at council, and now back to apartheid in health. Surely it is illegal to select based on race.
Putting the Democr back in Democracy in place of the Lun is something worthwhile but it is kicking the can down that long bumpy road. One can understand why those Councillors who may have stood up to be counted may have taken the line of least resistance given the instances of bullying and stand-over tactics employed in some quarters in a demonstration of what could be expected if the He Puapua coup comes to fruition (or has it already done that?). Race based seats are inherently wrong and frankly demeaning to Maori. We are New Zealanders and ostensibly one people - we all bleed if cut don't we? Stacking the decks in either local or government levels is divisive and racist QED - those that cannot see this are IMHO either deliberately obtuse or deluded.
The FNDC is happy to promote it's adherence to all things Maori, yet is also happy to erode our land with stormwater, thus destroying the river that runs through it. So on the one hand they claim to believe in water being a life force, yet after more than a year of asking, they are happy to try and kill the same thing.
Maori mafia allowed by the state to control the narrative.
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