April 04, 2024
Brown restores white power to local government elections
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says legislation to bring back the white veto on Māori wards will be introduced soon.
He says the bill will not only restore the ability for people to petition councils to hold binding polls on Māori ward decisions, but also force councils to revisit wards created since the Local Electoral Act was amended in 2021.
Before then only a few local and regional councils had created Maori wards, with outside groups like Hobson’s Pledge mobilising opposition to any efforts to do so.
Mr Brown says the previous Government’s changes were divisive and denied local communities the ability to have a say in their governance arrangements.
Maori wards were the only wards to be subject to veto, with councils being free to introduce things like rural wards or to switch between wards and at large membership.
The minister says unless they choose to scrap their wards early, affected councils will be required to hold referenda in next year’s local body elections, with the changes taking effect for the local government term beginning October 2028.