May 18, 2015
Vote leaves council with no Maori voice
New Plymouth councillor Howie Tamati says it’s hard to comprehend why his fellow residents are so fearful of giving Maori a voice in local government.
The district's residents and ratepayers voted more than four to one against creating a Maori ward for the next election.
Mr Tamati says the council went down that path because local iwi felt the existing Maori consultative committee was just box-ticking.
He says the controversy has been hard on Mayor Andrew Judd, and it has also been painful and frustrating for the Maori community.
""A lot of us understand we need to actually do this to keep pushing at the door and saying well you've got to let us in somehow. So the challenge for the New Plymouth District Council is to say well how do we now fulfill the statutory obligation that we have under the Act to have a meaningful relationship with local iwi. And at the moment we've got none" he says.
Howie Tamati says New Plymouth is missing out on a Maori perspective.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com