Guest Post: One Thing Leads to Another

A guest post on No Minister by Kerry Butler

When those in positions of power enact a policy that is meant to be “limited” to specific groups involving exceptional circumstances, such benevolence invariably ends up extending beyond the original intent.

We‘ve witnessed a classic example of this incremental creep in Welfare.

Maori Activists are very aware of the fact that when they push for “special” treatment of whatever sort for Maoridom, that’s really just about getting their foot in the door, i.e. knowing that it will lead to more.

Geoff Parker: Wai 1040 Isn’t History - It’s Politics Backdated

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Wai 1040 inquiry is presented as a long-overdue correction to New Zealand’s constitutional history. Its central claim is stark: that Māori never ceded sovereignty in 1840, and that the Crown has governed without legitimate authority ever since.

That claim may be influential in contemporary politics, but it does not withstand historical scrutiny.

Roger Partridge: A victory for democracy?

A week is not just a long time in politics. It is a long time for democracy.

Last Friday, Attorney-General David Parker released his advice on the Rotorua District Council’s proposals to rearrange local voting rights. The proposals found their way into a Government bill that passed its first reading earlier in the month.

To strengthen Māori representation on the Council, the bill proposes changes to the way the Council’s ten members are elected. Three would be voted for by voters on the general roll. Three would be elected by voters on the Māori roll. The remaining four would be voted for by all voters, whether on the Māori or general rolls.

However, there are only 21,700 voters on the Māori roll for the three Māori ward seats but 55,600 on the general roll for the three general ward seats. Consequently, voter representation under the proposed arrangements would not be proportional.

As Attorney-General, Parker was obliged to advise the Government on whether the bill is consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

Not surprisingly, he concluded it was not.

Clive Bibby: Disingenuous - you betcha!

I feel for those who have taken the time to make submissions during the Local Authority representation review process currently underway throughout the country. 

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?

Bob Edlin: Capital thinking on decolonisation – give voting rights to tribal appointees on council committees and mute the voice of non-Maori

Eight Wellington City Councillors – given the critical constitutional choice of Treaty partnership or democracy – yesterday voted in favour of further undermining the council’s democratic election and decision-making structures by granting voting rights to the representatives appointed by Maori tribes to sit on council committees.

Only six councillors voted against an arrangement to allow one representative from each of Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and Ngāti Toa Rangatira to sit on most council committees and subcommittees with full voting rights from 1 July.

The council will reimburse each tribe by paying an annual fee, equivalent to the remuneration of a full time elected member, which is currently $111,225.

Karl du Fresne: I despair for Wellington

I have a lot of affection for Wellington. I spent most of my working life there. Two of my children were born there. Many of my oldest and closest friends live there still.

It’s a place full of pleasant memories for me. I enjoyed my first non-European meal at the Shanghai restaurant in Manners St. I had my first under-age beer in the infamous Bistro Bar at the Royal Oak Hotel. I met the woman who became my wife in The Beachcomber at Oriental Bay. I knew most of Wellington’s pubs and I played in bands in its bars, cabarets and dance halls. In later years I spent many pleasurable hours exploring the city’s nooks and crannies on my mountain bike or on foot with our dog.

NZCPR Weekly: Local Democracy2019

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we review the local body elections and highlight some concerns – including a campaign to lower the voting age, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Gerry Eckhoff exposes the anti-democratic decision by the former Otago Regional Council to appoint unelected and unaccountable Ngai Tahu representatives with full voting rights onto the council committee dealing with freshwater allocation, and our poll asks whether you would support the voting age being lowered to 16.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

Karl du Fresne: Taking a short cut to power

Sigh. Here we go again.

According to a TVNZ news report, Northland Maori are lobbying for greater representation in local government. Despite having one of the highest Maori populations in the country, Northland iwi leaders say the lack of Maori representation on district councils means Maori are not being heard.

Ngati Hine kaumatua Pita Tipene laments that local government legislation and processes are “shutting out our people”. Not for the first time, compulsory Maori seats have been touted as one possible answer. But the solution to the lack of Maori representation is achingly obvious.

Bob Edlin: The prickly issue of Treaty rights and governance

Point of Order was handsomely rewarded when we emailed a Victoria University of Wellington law lecturer with questions about the propriety and legality of cracking eggs on the heads of unpopular politicians.  Within two hours Māmari Stephens had addressed the issues we raised with a well-considered response.

The response was somewhat briefer when we emailed the university with questions raised by an article on its website headed Academics commend Hastings District Council for inclusive, effective decision-making.

The article was prompted by the council’s decision to appoint Māori representatives with speaking and voting rights to its four standing committees, sparing them the need to campaign for election as the councillors who made the decision had been obliged to do.

Mike McVicker: Maori Appointments to Council

The issue of Maori Wards on Councils has certainly been rearing its head around the Country recently. Here in Rotorua this political demand by Maori is certainly heating up again and will come to a head on Thursday 18^th December at the final Council meeting of the year. 

This week speculation proved to be correct when it was confirmed that our Mayor, Steve Chadwick, was behind a proposal to push significant change relating to Maori appointments through at this very last meeting. She was clearly hoping that the political fallout will fade over the Christmas holidays.

A very similar proposal to give Iwi two unelected representatives on the Rotorua District Council (now the Rotorua Lakes Council), plus 50% control of the Resource Management Committee was similarly launched by the Mayor in May. Once the public were alerted to this somewhat underhand move, it was flatly rejected by Rotorua ratepayers.

Reynold Macpherson: Rotorua’s Mayor and Councillors Remain Accountable

The Council’s Te Arawa Partnerships Project proposal is at the Rotorua Muddy Waters website. It violates the principle of representative democracy and would give disproportionate power to a new Te Arawa Board. It is probably embarrassing to Te Arawa.

Te Arawa will know by now that the proposal is broadly unacceptable in our community. It has been given a hospital pass. A referendum would radicalise opinion, generate bitterness, and bury the proposal and hopes of a fresh settlement. Council needs to take back full responsibility for the quality of governance rather than outsourcing the challenge to one stakeholder.