PoO must confess to having focused on the $33,000 costs of an Invercargill City Council “Code of Conduct” investigation, thereby failing to note the savings gained from a tribal group’s decision to relinquish a place on council committees.
The council four years ago voted to enable two rūnaka to appoint representatives to committee posts. But two voices have been trimmed to one.
Waihōpai Rūnaka in recent days confirmed that Mike Bain will be its representative for the coming term, replacing Dr Evelyn Cook.
Its Awarua counterpart has decided not to replace Pania Coote, who has also stepped down.
Without any reference to the voters of Invercargill, accordingly, the strength of the Maori voice on the council has been changed.
But a small saving has been made. The Press noted:
The decision carries a savings to the council which last November voted to pay mana whenua representatives $49,275, compared to elected councillors pay of $54,347, a figure that increases for those those councillors with chairmanship responsibilities.
Mana whenua representatives do not have equal status to elected councillors – at full council meetings they have speaking but not voting rights.
It would have been a bigger saving if Evelyn Cook had been more persuasive.
She had represented Waihōpai Rūnaka at the council since 2021, when a majority of elected city councillors weakened their democracy by voting in favour of giving tribal groups the privileage of places on council committees.
But she had a grouch about the pay.
In November last year, Stuff reported:
On Tuesday, the council will set its remuneration for the upcoming term, with pay rises on the cards for both elected members and representatives.
But with a base rate of $54,347 proposed for councillors, mana whenua appointees are on track to receive just $49,275 — the minimum amount the council is allowed to pay councillors.
The Rev Evelyn Cook has held one of two mana whenua positions at the council since 2021 and said she was “offended” by the differential.
“I would have perhaps expected that after four years we have proved our value, and that differential wasn’t there.”
And:
Cook believed a reason for the lower pay was that representatives weren’t given full voting rights, meaning they didn’t carry the same legal liability as councillors.
Whether that meant they were worth $5000 less a year was moot, she said.
“We still go to the council meetings, for the most part. We still articulate, we still advocate, we just can’t vote.”
Nor – of course – can they be held accountable to voters.
When the council approved the constitutional privilege for tribal appointees by establishing mana whenua roles within council committees, the Otago Daily Times reported:
Invercargill City Council is one step closer to establishing mana whenua seats within its ranks, but a kaumātua hopes it won’t take another 150 years for new appointees to be treated as equals.
And:
The local body was established in 1871, so it has taken 150 years to include Māori in the city’s governance.
This suggests Maori were not entitled to stand for election to the council during all those years.
Not so.
But once the electoral system had been short-circuited and the rules changed to allow Maori to skip the campaigning-for-support bit of local body governance, their leaders made plain they wanted more:
The news was well received by Ngāi Tahu representatives in the deep south, even though it comes with a caveat.
Because of government legislation, the new appointees can only be involved at committee level and are not allowed to vote at full council.
Waihōpai Rūnaka representative Michael Skerrett said the seats were a good start, but hoped it would not take another century and a half for the rules to change around that.
“Rightfully, we should have mana whenua places [voting on full] council. In time, I think it will [happen],” Skerrett said.
Not surprisingly, he invoked the Treaty of Waitangi and mentioned the “partnership” which the Treaty does not mention.
“I’m not talking about taking over the place, but that’s a promise of the Treaty. There’s a reasonable expectation that tāngata whenua of the area, they’re the Treaty partner. To me, it’s just a matter of honesty, keeping your promises.”
Now one of the tribal group’s has said it no longer wants to play a part at council committee meetings – at least, not through an appointed representative.
Awarua Rūnaka’s general manager Andrea Cross said in a letter to the council that it had reconsidered all its external representation arrangements as part of its significant reset from a charitable trust to an incorporated society and charitable company.
It decided to relinquish its positions on the city council and Bluff Community Board and asked the council to disestablish them.
“We believe the city council established and maintained these positions in good faith, for which we are sincerely grateful,’’ she said.
“However our view is that there are more cost effective ways by which Awarua can communicate and collaborate with the council as required.’’
“Our relationship did not begin when these roles were created and will not end with their dissolution.’’
The city council subsequently voted to put the Awarua seat into abeyance.
And here’s something worth noting.
According to Te Ao Maori News:
The request [from Cross] drew a strong response from councillor Andrea de Vries — a member of both Waihōpai and Awarua Rūnaka — who advocated for Māori participation on Tuesday.
“He kapua pōuri kei rungai i tēnei whare. There is a dark cloud over this house today,” de Vries said.
“The Māori community and Tangata Tiriti may be feeling quite disheartened about the proposed reduction in Māori voice at that table and I can really empathise with that today.”
De Vries is a member of both Waihōpai and Awarua Rūnaka?
Doesn’t that mean both tribal groups have a voice through an elected councillor at the council table?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
Its Awarua counterpart has decided not to replace Pania Coote, who has also stepped down.
Without any reference to the voters of Invercargill, accordingly, the strength of the Maori voice on the council has been changed.
But a small saving has been made. The Press noted:
The decision carries a savings to the council which last November voted to pay mana whenua representatives $49,275, compared to elected councillors pay of $54,347, a figure that increases for those those councillors with chairmanship responsibilities.
Mana whenua representatives do not have equal status to elected councillors – at full council meetings they have speaking but not voting rights.
It would have been a bigger saving if Evelyn Cook had been more persuasive.
She had represented Waihōpai Rūnaka at the council since 2021, when a majority of elected city councillors weakened their democracy by voting in favour of giving tribal groups the privileage of places on council committees.
But she had a grouch about the pay.
In November last year, Stuff reported:
On Tuesday, the council will set its remuneration for the upcoming term, with pay rises on the cards for both elected members and representatives.
But with a base rate of $54,347 proposed for councillors, mana whenua appointees are on track to receive just $49,275 — the minimum amount the council is allowed to pay councillors.
The Rev Evelyn Cook has held one of two mana whenua positions at the council since 2021 and said she was “offended” by the differential.
“I would have perhaps expected that after four years we have proved our value, and that differential wasn’t there.”
And:
Cook believed a reason for the lower pay was that representatives weren’t given full voting rights, meaning they didn’t carry the same legal liability as councillors.
Whether that meant they were worth $5000 less a year was moot, she said.
“We still go to the council meetings, for the most part. We still articulate, we still advocate, we just can’t vote.”
Nor – of course – can they be held accountable to voters.
When the council approved the constitutional privilege for tribal appointees by establishing mana whenua roles within council committees, the Otago Daily Times reported:
Invercargill City Council is one step closer to establishing mana whenua seats within its ranks, but a kaumātua hopes it won’t take another 150 years for new appointees to be treated as equals.
And:
The local body was established in 1871, so it has taken 150 years to include Māori in the city’s governance.
This suggests Maori were not entitled to stand for election to the council during all those years.
Not so.
But once the electoral system had been short-circuited and the rules changed to allow Maori to skip the campaigning-for-support bit of local body governance, their leaders made plain they wanted more:
The news was well received by Ngāi Tahu representatives in the deep south, even though it comes with a caveat.
Because of government legislation, the new appointees can only be involved at committee level and are not allowed to vote at full council.
Waihōpai Rūnaka representative Michael Skerrett said the seats were a good start, but hoped it would not take another century and a half for the rules to change around that.
“Rightfully, we should have mana whenua places [voting on full] council. In time, I think it will [happen],” Skerrett said.
Not surprisingly, he invoked the Treaty of Waitangi and mentioned the “partnership” which the Treaty does not mention.
“I’m not talking about taking over the place, but that’s a promise of the Treaty. There’s a reasonable expectation that tāngata whenua of the area, they’re the Treaty partner. To me, it’s just a matter of honesty, keeping your promises.”
Now one of the tribal group’s has said it no longer wants to play a part at council committee meetings – at least, not through an appointed representative.
Awarua Rūnaka’s general manager Andrea Cross said in a letter to the council that it had reconsidered all its external representation arrangements as part of its significant reset from a charitable trust to an incorporated society and charitable company.
It decided to relinquish its positions on the city council and Bluff Community Board and asked the council to disestablish them.
“We believe the city council established and maintained these positions in good faith, for which we are sincerely grateful,’’ she said.
“However our view is that there are more cost effective ways by which Awarua can communicate and collaborate with the council as required.’’
“Our relationship did not begin when these roles were created and will not end with their dissolution.’’
The city council subsequently voted to put the Awarua seat into abeyance.
And here’s something worth noting.
According to Te Ao Maori News:
The request [from Cross] drew a strong response from councillor Andrea de Vries — a member of both Waihōpai and Awarua Rūnaka — who advocated for Māori participation on Tuesday.
“He kapua pōuri kei rungai i tēnei whare. There is a dark cloud over this house today,” de Vries said.
“The Māori community and Tangata Tiriti may be feeling quite disheartened about the proposed reduction in Māori voice at that table and I can really empathise with that today.”
De Vries is a member of both Waihōpai and Awarua Rūnaka?
Doesn’t that mean both tribal groups have a voice through an elected councillor at the council table?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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