Reynold Macpherson: Rotorua’s Manipulated Representation Decision

The evidence is that Council’s decision-making at the November 19 meeting over representation structures was manipulated towards ends predetermined by the Mayor; 50/ 50 co-governance.

How? Council’s agenda for 19 November proposed a “final representation model” of 1 Māori seat, 1 General seat and 8 At Large seats for councillors (1M:1G:8AL). It also sought to empower the Chief Executive to campaign for a law change to achieve the 3M:3G:4AL model that the Mayor and her supporters preferred, even though it had already been deemed to be unlawful by the Local Government Commission because it failed to meet the formula in law that guarantees proportional representation.

Reynold Macpherson: Rotorua’s Gerrymander for the 2022 Local Elections

Introduction

Gerrymandering[1] is manipulating representation structures to create political advantages for selected individuals and/ or groups. Redistricting enables politicians to pick voters by juggling ward structures in a district.

Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC) has mobilized bias towards co-governance in its Representation Review and towards getting incumbents re-elected. It has been gerrymandering electoral outcomes favorable to its Māori Electoral Population (MEP) which constitutes 28% of the total electoral population. Incumbent elected members have agreed to transfer three General Electoral Population (GEP) seats and one MEP seat into a newly invented At Large ward with four seats that all can vote for. This redistricting tactic will significantly widen the voting base of popular incumbents and double the voting power of MEP voters.

Reynold Macpherson: Rotorua's Representation Review Biased Towards Co-Governance

Introduction

New Zealand’s central government ended local referenda on 1 March 2021[1]  that had retarded the introduction of Māori wards. Rotorua Lakes Council (Council) decided on 21 May 2021 to introduce a Māori ward to elect a member or members to Council. 

Council also decided to establish a Representation Review. It specifically authorised consultations with mana whenua and wider stakeholders with a view to reinforcing co-governance:

4.     That Council agree to carry out a wider review of Council’s governance framework, including the purpose, membership and powers of Council’s committees and community boards, and a discussion with Te Arawa and the broader community about the possibilities of strengthening co-governance. [2]