April 09, 2024
Māori ward vote price of coalition
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says the prior Labour Government overstepped the mark by removing the ratepayer veto on Māori wards.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has moved to restore the referendums that can overturn council decisions on Māori local representation.
Mr Jones says former prime minister Jacinda Ardern and minister Nanaia Mahuta should have campaigned on the issue instead of passing the amendment to the Local Electora Act in the dead of night.
“If they wanted those seats to endure, they should have gone and campaigned on it. And you’ve had the parties of the right, particularly the ACT party, drive incessantly to restore that right of a referendum. It was a clandestine act that actually gave councils the ability to make those changes – it did not go through the withering fire of an election campaign,” he says.
Mr Jones says he’s not against Māori wards, but coalition agreements make unity a priority to tackle bigger issues.
Since the election the coalition has pushed through multiple items under urgency which were not in their campaign manifestos, such as the repeal of smokefree regulations.