March 30, 2022
Auckland Council finds Māori seat formula
Auckland council will open formal consultation next month on the creation of Māori seats.
The number of councillors is fixed at 20 by the law creating the super city, so a law change is needed – and that means any change won’t come into effect until the 2025 local government elections.
Mayor Phil Goff says the council feels it has come up with the right formula.
“We want to have Māori representation along the lines of the parliamentary model, the model that has given us Māori representation in Parliament for well over a century, and if the council increased its general wards to 21. that would justify two Māori wards which would give us direct Māori representation,” he says.
Mr Goff says this is what should have happened when the super city was formed in 2010.