In October 2025, 42 New Zealand councils will hold referenda on Māori wards, yet many Kiwis are unaware of their threat to equal representation.
These wards give Māori disproportionate influence, undermining democratic fairness.
Māori sovereignty advocates see the stakes: abolishing these wards could halt their push for council control, weaken race-based parliamentary seats, and derail the divisive He Puapua plan for Māori dominance by 2040.
Māori wards emerged controversially in the early 2000s under Helen Clark’s Labour Government, during reforms to the 1976 Local Elections and Polls Act. A Green Party bill pushed proportional voting, leading to the Single Transferable Vote (STV) option in the 2001 Local Electoral Act. As STV altered the voting system, a safeguard was added: a petition by five percent of electors could trigger a binding referendum on electoral changes.
New Zealand protects voting systems as constitutionally significant. Central government requires a 75 percent parliamentary supermajority or a nationwide referendum for changes. Local government uses petition rights to prevent manipulation. The 2001 Act applied this to STV and Māori wards, as the latter required a Māori electoral roll.
Labour MP Mita Ririnui’s 2001 Bay of Plenty Regional Council Bill created Māori seats. Alliance MP Willie Jackson claimed: “In 1998, despite Māori being 28 percent of the population, Māori had no representation on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. That would suggest the system has failed Māori, big time.”
National MP Max Bradford countered: “From 1989 to 1991, there were two Māori out of 12 representatives. From 1992 to 1995 there was one. In 1995 to 1998, there were no Māori representatives, but I am not sure anybody stood.”
A subsequent investigation found that Māori were unrepresented because there were no candidates in the running.
Bradford warned: “The one thing this bill is not is an innocent little local bill.” ACT MP Ken Shirley called it “institutionalised separatism… apartheid,” a “stalking horse” for nationwide separatism. Despite its false premise, the bill passed, paving the way for Māori wards. Shirley later said in 2002: “The bill proposes race-based electoral rolls for local government. That is apartheid.”
By 2020, 24 councils tried imposing Māori wards; only Wairoa’s 2016 referendum passed, later deemed unnecessary. By 2019, Māori were 13.5 percent of councillors, matching their population share. In 2020, Labour’s Nanaia Mahuta inaccurately claimed Māori wards faced discriminatory barriers and abolished the petition-right safeguard. Post-2022, Māori councillors surged to 21.6 percent, with advisory groups amplifying tribal control.
In 2024, the Coalition restored the petition-right safeguard.
Only Kaipara disestablished its ward.
The Māori seats have become radicalised. Our Māori ward councillor… Put the interests of Māori first, at the expense of everyone else. It has also cost ratepayers a lot of money.” – Mayor Craig Jepson, Kaipara.
Māori wards emerged controversially in the early 2000s under Helen Clark’s Labour Government, during reforms to the 1976 Local Elections and Polls Act. A Green Party bill pushed proportional voting, leading to the Single Transferable Vote (STV) option in the 2001 Local Electoral Act. As STV altered the voting system, a safeguard was added: a petition by five percent of electors could trigger a binding referendum on electoral changes.
New Zealand protects voting systems as constitutionally significant. Central government requires a 75 percent parliamentary supermajority or a nationwide referendum for changes. Local government uses petition rights to prevent manipulation. The 2001 Act applied this to STV and Māori wards, as the latter required a Māori electoral roll.
Labour MP Mita Ririnui’s 2001 Bay of Plenty Regional Council Bill created Māori seats. Alliance MP Willie Jackson claimed: “In 1998, despite Māori being 28 percent of the population, Māori had no representation on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. That would suggest the system has failed Māori, big time.”
National MP Max Bradford countered: “From 1989 to 1991, there were two Māori out of 12 representatives. From 1992 to 1995 there was one. In 1995 to 1998, there were no Māori representatives, but I am not sure anybody stood.”
A subsequent investigation found that Māori were unrepresented because there were no candidates in the running.
Bradford warned: “The one thing this bill is not is an innocent little local bill.” ACT MP Ken Shirley called it “institutionalised separatism… apartheid,” a “stalking horse” for nationwide separatism. Despite its false premise, the bill passed, paving the way for Māori wards. Shirley later said in 2002: “The bill proposes race-based electoral rolls for local government. That is apartheid.”
By 2020, 24 councils tried imposing Māori wards; only Wairoa’s 2016 referendum passed, later deemed unnecessary. By 2019, Māori were 13.5 percent of councillors, matching their population share. In 2020, Labour’s Nanaia Mahuta inaccurately claimed Māori wards faced discriminatory barriers and abolished the petition-right safeguard. Post-2022, Māori councillors surged to 21.6 percent, with advisory groups amplifying tribal control.
In 2024, the Coalition restored the petition-right safeguard.
Only Kaipara disestablished its ward.
The Māori seats have become radicalised. Our Māori ward councillor… Put the interests of Māori first, at the expense of everyone else. It has also cost ratepayers a lot of money.” – Mayor Craig Jepson, Kaipara.
Councils have no treaty obligations.
Māori already wield influence through advisory roles, Mana Whakahono a Rohe Agreements, and co-governance. Claims of Treaty-based rights are problematic as sovereignty was ceded.
The 42 referenda are critical as retaining Māori wards now risks entrenching tribal control.
Source: https://www.thedailyexaminer.co.nz/referenda-2025-halting-maori-wards-to-protect-equal-democracy/
Māori already wield influence through advisory roles, Mana Whakahono a Rohe Agreements, and co-governance. Claims of Treaty-based rights are problematic as sovereignty was ceded.
The 42 referenda are critical as retaining Māori wards now risks entrenching tribal control.
Source: https://www.thedailyexaminer.co.nz/referenda-2025-halting-maori-wards-to-protect-equal-democracy/
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