Bob Edlin: Tensions over co-governance spread from Far North to Hastings....

Tensions over co-governance spread from Far North to Hastings – but Simon says he sees no cause to intervene

A headline on the OneNews website suggests Simon Watts might be earning his keep – at last – on the wretched issue of elected councillors sharing their powers with unelected iwi appointees.

It says: Local Government Minister puts scrutiny on Far North District Council.

That’s his response – presumably – to a councillor in the Far North hoping to put him on the spot by calling for his intervention.

But he’s not ready to intervene. For now, he has delegated the exercise of his authority to departmental minions:

Local government Minister Simon Watts has asked his officials to ‘engage with’ Far North District Council after a local councillor called for the appointment of a Crown Observer.

The report explains:

Kerikeri ACT Local Councillor Davina Smoulders recently made claims of governance issues at the council.

This Far North dispute has been spiced by claims that as many as 15 unelected iwi and hapū representatives are sitting around the table with only six elected members in one committee setting.

Whether Watts is troubled by this is unclear. He gives the impression he sees no need to intervene:

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said Minister Watts had sent a letter to the council on Thursday expressing confidence in the council.

And:

Watts said his understanding remained that the council was discharging its functions under Local Government Act requirements.

But concerns about the authority increasingly ceded to iwi leaders have spread.

The Centrist reports:

Co-governance comes roaring back to life

Roaring back to life?

But it was never curbed as many New Zealanders expected it would be when they got rid of a Hipkins Government under which it had flourished.

The Centrist report is focused on Steve Gibson, a Hastings councillor who has described the region’s new water structure as “Three Waters in drag”.

He says the core problem is not Māori, but unelected influence.


“Nothing to do with Māori, it’s to do with the unelected officials running the show,” he said.

His warning echoes that of Cr Smoulders. It’s that power is being shifted from elected councillors towards people the public cannot remove.

Gibson says the public already rejected co-governance. Labour, he argues, lost the 2023 election with Three Waters hanging around its neck, and Māori wards were rejected in referendums, including in Hastings. But councils are bringing it back anyway through advisory forums, appointed representatives and governance structures that sit further and further from the ballot box.

Gibson points to Article 3 of the Treaty, which promises equal citizenship under one system, not separate authority based on ancestry.

“Where is the word co-governance or partnership in that?” he asks.

The report in Centrist about happenings in Hasting followed Cr Gibson speaking to Duncan Garner about the region’s new water structure.

He warns that if the model being used there keeps spreading, iwi and other unelected appointees will gain the power to shape systems that charge the public for water without direct electoral accountability.

He also argues that too many councillors are too frightened of being called racist to resist it, blaming what he calls “woke women” and “emasculated men” for helping keep the agenda alive.

Garner was aware of the similarities between the Hastings issue and the Far North dispute.

He is reported to have been refused an interview with the Far North Mayor and told to “f*** off”.

The Centrist report includes links to further information in The NZ Herald and on YouTube.

Returning to the OneNews report, it says that Simon Watts – in his letter to the Mayor – said Cr Smoulders’ request to him had been triggered by concerns about the governance environment within the council and elected members’ ability to participate in council matters.

“As the Minister of Local Government, I expect all mayors and councillors across New Zealand, including at the Far North District Council, to collaborate effectively and deliver for their communities,” Watts said in the letter.

When did he send it?

That’s not clear.

But the Far North mayor said the council had not heard from the Minister since.

“We have not received any information from Minister Watts regarding a Crown Observer other than a letter we received yesterday, outlining that he remained confident we were discharging our functions under the (Local Government) Act and that he was satisfied we were conducting our governance appropriately.

“If that situation has changed, however, then we are committed to working with the Minister and his processes regarding this matter,” Tepania said.

Smoulders has welcomed Minister Watts’ decision to have officials engage with the council and report back to him.

“While I still think the appointment of a Crown Observer is needed to deliver better governance, I’m glad that in the meantime officials from outside the Council will consider the facts,” Smoulders, a first-time Far North councillor, said.

“My focus has always been on transparency and making sure decisions are made in line with the law and in the best interests of our community.

“I am confident that, with all of the information in front of him, the Minister will arrive at the right decision.”

Minister Watts told Local Democracy Reporting there was a very high threshold for any Crown Observer appointment.

Under the Local Government Act 2002, he said, councils were autonomous, democratically elected bodies.

“My role as Minister of Local Government is not to get involved in day‑to‑day council operations or disagreements between elected members.”

Watt said councils were responsible for their own decision‑making, committee structures and internal governance.

“I encourage all elected members to engage constructively, act professionally and make use of the mechanisms available to them to resolve issues internally,” Watts said.

And when elected members decide to share power with unelected iwi appointees, fundamentally changing governance arrangements in their cities and districts? What then?

The test – it seems – will be whether Watts chooses to exercise his powers to intervene, which (he says) are intended to be used only in “extreme circumstances” where there is clear and significant failure by a council to carry out its statutory responsibilities.

“These interventions are subject to strict legal tests and are legally contestable.”

The Government’s power to appoint a Crown Observer was created in 2012.

It has been used only twice since then among 78 councils – at Kaipara District Council and Wellington City Council.

Northland MP Grant McCallum is urging Local Government New Zealand to engage proactively with the Far North District Council “to provide support as needed”.

Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.