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October 28, 2019
Tauranga councillor challenged over "joke" treaty
Waatea Team
Posted On October 28, 2019
A Ngāti Pūkenga kaumātua says the swearing in of a Tauranga councillor could set back race relations in the city by decades.
Andrew Hollis was elected to the council after making social media comments during the campaign that the Treaty of Waitangi was a joke and mana whenua was a game to get land for free.
During his swearing in, several of the tangata whenua left the room, and Buddy Mikaere stood and silently pointed to a copy of the treaty hanging on the wall.
Mr Mikaere says the fact Mr Hollis gained a high level of electoral support to be come a councillor at large was disappointing.
"I was not going to let this idiot trample over the 30 years’ experience I’ve had endeavouring to address treaty claims nor was I going to let him trample all over the really good relationships that had been built up over that time between Pākehā and Māori and Pākehā in Tauranga. Electing him will set back race relations in Tauranga, sends it back to the sixties," he says.
Mr Mikaere says in swearing to uphold the Local Government Act, Councillor Hollis has set himself up for an ongoing conflict of interest when it comes to issues regarding Māori, because that act is explicit about respecting the Treaty of Waitangi.
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