The Breaking Views blog is administered by the New Zealand Centre for Political Research at NZCPR.com. The views expressed are those of the author alone.
Those to whom a measure of authority has been given should pause occasionally to reflect on whether our representative democracy is working as intended – to benefit and serve the public.
Even a casual glance at the process of local government should indicate a certain dysfunctionality of process.
It concerns me that any council could have succeeded in
hoodwinking the public into thinking that anybody was listening — especially
those submitters who might be partially supportive of Maori wards but object to
the way it has been handled.
It didn’t need to happen this way.
Despite attempts by some of the nation’s most influential citizens
to justify their local council’s contemptuous treatment of its own people, it
is clear that this misguided move will do great damage to otherwise healthy
interracial relationships.
You can’t force people to accept laws that are nakedly divisive when our recent history is one of acknowledgement of injustices, followed by significant progress with reconciliation and compensation. Why not build on that?
There are many cogent and valid reasons why they must vote against this undemocratic aberration.
Race-based wards should not be brought in at the whim of Councillors, any decision should only be made after full public consultation including submissions and most recent polls show that constituents do not want these wards with an average 75% no vote against them. Why then would Council spend (waste) around $200,000 on a referendum when the result looks like a foregone conclusion based on past experience.
