November 01, 2023
Iwi references need weeding from statutory garden
Newly-elected New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says many of Auckland’s mana whenua iwi may be quietly satisfied at the council’s failure to create Māori wards for the next local government election.
Just two of the 19 iwi made submissions on the plan, which was voted down last week 11 to 9.
Mr Jones says that could be because the existing Independent Maori Statutory Board already gives iwi a say in how the city is run.
He says parliament was wrong to elevate the role of iwi and hapu in local government.
“The legitimacy of local government has to flow from the ballot box and one thing I look forward to doing is curbing and pulling the weeds out of the statutory garden where we’ve got these indiscriminate, unhelpful and quite divisive references not only to the principles of the treaty but the role of iwi and hapu in resource management and if I have an opportunity to bring some balance back there it will be done by lunchtime,” Mr Jones says.
He says the bulk of Maori aren’t found around runanga tables or conducing pointless mana whenua disputes.