Waipā councillors today voted to support Māori wards.
The decision means voters will be polled at next year’s local body elections on whether to continue with having an at large Waipā Māori ward in the district.
Councillors who spoke at the district council meeting this morning were full of praise for the work current Maori representative Dale-Maree Morgan had done in her one year, one month and 25 days in the job.
An emotional mayor Susan O’Regan said she was annoyed the council was being put in the position of having the debate only three years after it decided to establish a Maori ward for the 2022 local body elections.
Waipa councillors and iwi at the start of today’s Waipa council meeting in Te Awamutu.
“This notion of Māori wards – is localism in action,” she said.
Representatives from Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, and the Raukawa Charitable Trust, were invited to speak at the council meeting, and were united in their passionate support for the continuation of Māori wards.
Morgan said the decision to support Maori wards should be grounded “in our commitment to uphold the rights of Maaori as guaranteed under Te Tiriti, not subject to the whims of a majority vote.
“We have a moral duty to protect these rights, even when it may not be the most convenient or popular path.”
Jackie Collier of Waikato-Tainui hugs Dale-Maree Morgan after the vote today. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
More to come ……
Dale-Maree Morgan at today’s Waipa District Council meeting. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
