May 06, 2013
Super-council deaf to Maori voices
The Wairoa District Council is opposing a push to amalgamate all local government in Hawkes Bay because of its effect on Māori residents.
Mayor Les Probert says more than 61 percent of the Wairoa district’s population are Māori and the council has gone to great lengths to establish strong working relationships with tangata whenua.
He says the Better Hawke's Bay proposal to merge all district and regional councils doesn’t give enough weight to Māori.
Mr Probert says the idea of the council setting up an iwi leaders forum would completely eliminate the ability for Māori of Wairoa to interact with their local council.
He says the plan would also lead to redundancies for rural Wairoa people who provide local services to the council, which will have a flow on effect into the primary production sector.
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