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September 01, 2015
Judd keen to carve up city for Maori vote
Waatea Team
Posted On September 1, 2015
New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd wants his council to adopt city wards as a way to increase the chances of Maori getting on the council.
He's called a hui at Owae Marae in Waitara on Thursday to discuss the current representation review.
A referendum rejected the notion of Maori wards, and the council has resolved to support the status quo, which is 10 councillors elected at large to represent the city and two to cover rural areas.
Mr Judd says there are other options available under the Local Electoral Act.
"Out at Owae I want to speak about one that I favour which is a ward structure in the city itself because it carves up the city so there is greater chance of Maori getting on because there are areas of the city where there are more populations of Maori so if I can carve the city up into those voting mesh blocks then I stand a better chance of getting Maori on council," he says.
Mr Judd says Maori will continued to be denied proper representation at local government level until there is a change in the law.
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