Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell’s proposed equal voting
rights bill ignores that Māori still face political
disadvantages, iwi group leaders say.
Uffindell said
his private members’ bill lodged last week was aimed at
ensuring equal voting rights in local and central
government.
The draft bill was intended to stop any
move away from the principle of equal suffrage, where each
person gets an equal say in electing people, Uffindell
said.
“I hear a lot of concern from members of the
community that councils, like Tauranga City Council, want to
move away from equal suffrage and give special rights and
voting power to people based on ethnicity.
“My
response to that is we are all Kiwis; we should all have
equal rights and responsibilities.”
Ngāi Te Rangi
chief executive Paora Stanley said he didn’t agree with
the bill and it “ignores the fact that Māori still face
political disadvantages”.
“Māori seats ensure
indigenous representation, not privilege.”
The
political disadvantage in its “simplest form” was not
having a Māori voice, he said.
A Māori voice
represented Māori interests and was chosen by Māori, said
Stanley.
Stanley said the equal suffrage rhetoric was
not new.
“It gets tiring. Why do you have to
continually fight just to have your head above
water?”
Matire Duncan chairs Te Rangapū Mana Whenua
o Tauranga Moana, a group representing local hapū and iwi,
which works with the council. She had “deep concerns”
about the bill.
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It risked undermining the Crown’s
obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and legal and
constitutional frameworks recognising the rights of tangata
whenua in governance, she said.
“This bill
misrepresents Māori representation mechanisms as special
rights rather than corrective measures to address the
ongoing effects of colonisation and ensure meaningful
partnership between the Crown and tangata
whenua.”
It appeared to be a reaction to councils
granting tangata whenua representatives full voting rights
on committees, she said.
Late last year, elected
members of the Tauranga City Council voted to reinstate
tangata whenua representatives and their voting rights to
the council’s three committees, after a request from Te
Rangapū.
Iwi representatives had been appointed to
council committees since 2016 and were given voting rights
in 2020.
The newly elected council did not appoint iwi
representatives when first elected in July 2024 because they
wanted to understand if it would be beneficial, Mayor Mahé
Drysdale said at the time.
Duncan said councils should
be able to work with tangata whenua in ways that suited
their region.
“[The bill] is a step backwards when
we should be working together for stronger, more engaged
local democracy.”
Uffindell should speak to local
iwi, hapū, tangata whenua about whether they feel
discriminated against as they shouldn’t have to feel this
way, Duncan said
Asked if he had spoken to Te Rangapū
about the iwi appointments, Uffindell said: “No. I have
read the reasons and I’ve seen what the council’s stance
was on it.”
“At a higher level, I believe in equal
suffrage and … to be on a local council, you need to be
elected to be on that local council.”
He said he
disagreed with giving voting rights to any unelected members
on council committees whether on “racial lines” or
“expertise lines”.
“Ultimately, that’ll be up
to the council to determine … but just from an overarching
perspective we want equal suffrage.”
Drysdale said
the council worked with all key stakeholders for the benefit
of Tauranga, including iwi.
“Local government
operates on the basis of representative
democracy.
“It’s up to our local MPs to decide on
matters of importance for their member’s bills and we will
wait to see if this bill is drawn and supported by the
Government.”
Uffindell said the Canterbury Regional
Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act and the Rotorua
District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill
highlighted the move away from the principle of equal
suffrage.
Ngāi Tahu can appoint two members with
voting rights to the Canterbury Regional Council. The
Rotorua Bill would have seen equal Māori and general seat
numbers on the council but was scrapped in
2022.
“People are telling me they feel discriminated
against and treated as second-class citizens,” Uffindell
said.
“They shouldn’t have to feel this way and
central and local government have a duty to ensure everyone
is equal under the law – this starts with equal suffrage.
As far as I’m concerned, no Kiwi is any more special than
any other.”
Uffindell’s New Zealand Bill of Rights
(Right to Equal Suffrage in Local Elections) Amendment Bill
is now in the ballot in Parliament and may be drawn for
debate.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by
RNZ and NZ On
Air.
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