January 06, 2013
East Coast shake-up cuts Ngāti Porou voice
Te Rūnanganui ō Ngāti Porou is objecting to a cut in the number of wards on the district council which cover the Ngāti Porou rohe.
The Local Government Commission has been looking at the Gisborne District Council’s structure and representation for this year’s election.
It decided it would have 13 members from five wards, with nine councillors in the Gisborne ward and four covering the rest of the East Coast.
Rūnanga chair Apirana Mahuika says in the process it has cut the Ngāti Porou wards from three to two.
That disregards the unique needs of each community and defeats the Ngāti Porou drive to ensure that all of its whānau/hapū groupings, views and needs are fairly represented.
Mr Mahuika says the decision breaches Ngāti Porou’s treaty settlement, which was supposed to create a new partnership relationship with the Crown.
He says the partnership was seen as a way to improve the outcomes from government investment in Ngāti Porou rohe by giving the iwi more input into setting priorities for issues such as erosion control, social services and public infrastructure.
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