June 27, 2023
IMSB failed model says Tamihere
Former Independent Māori Statutory Board member John Tamihere says after 12 years it’s clear the board has been a complete failure for 95 per cent of Māori in the city.
In its consultation on introducing Māori wards, Auckland Council is asking for feedback on whether the Maori seats should be in addition to the board or replace it.
The Waipareira chief executive and Maori Party president says under the current system very few of the quarter of a million Maori living in the super city have a say in who represents them.
The board is skewed to iwi, with only two maata waka representatives.
“We need Maori in the city to have a voice. Of course mana whenua will have a say because they’ve got it deeply embedded in their settlements legislation that they’ve got rights of consultation etc, etc. What we’ve got to be careful about though is we don’t have two types of Maori citizens in the country, first class and second class,” Mr Tamihere says.
He says urban Maori don’t get to choose their own representatives on the Independent Maori Statutory Board because of the way the appointment process is managed by mana whenua iwi.