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Ngati Kahungunu leader Ngahiwi Tomoana is blaming fear for the overwhelming rejection of a proposal to amalgamate the five territorial local authorities in Hawke’s Bay.
The iwi runanga backed the proposal because it saw the prospect of a council with lower cost overheads that could be a strong voice for regional development.
But Mr Tomoana says many Maori were swayed by the message they could lose local identity.
"The campaigners against amalgamation had a field day playing to those fears, and whether it was hapu, whether it was marae, whether it was communities like Flaxmere and Wairoa or havelock those fears were played out, that we would lose our sense of local identity," he says.
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