Happy and surprised to see Taranaki drop them though in this day and age I think all wards should be dropped too. Thanks for the run down which I haven’t seen anyway else Matua.
The silliest comment I heard this morning on this topic, was Hosking interviewing Sam Broughton, current chair of LGNZ.
When asked if the removal of 25 Maori wards vs retaining 17 was a rejection of the concept of Maori wards he answered "well we didn't have a referendum on rural wards" - or words to that effect.
It showed how weak the case for Maori wards is given that urban and rural wards are general in nature & not based upon who your ancestors were for representative and voting reasons.
They're pure grift.
As for low voter turnout - the behavior of councils is one reason why people are disinterested - once voted in, arrogant bureaucrats and individual councilors seem to want to push their own agenda.
Postal votes are an ineffective voting system subject to rort.
I voted against a Maori ward in Nelson . However, if it means not having a Council appoint unelected "iwi representatives" to Committees and Council and give them full voting rights maybe it is the best of a very bad idea that Maori have special rights. Watch your Council closely, they are unlikely to take these " No" votes lying down
Happy and surprised to see Taranaki drop them though in this day and age I think all wards should be dropped too. Thanks for the run down which I haven’t seen anyway else Matua.
No worries, David. Probably one of the best articles was from Te Ao Māori news, who reported on who decided to keep Māori wards and who wanted to drop them - https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2025/10/12/majority-of-new-zealand-says-no-to-maori-wards/
The silliest comment I heard this morning on this topic, was Hosking interviewing Sam Broughton, current chair of LGNZ.
When asked if the removal of 25 Maori wards vs retaining 17 was a rejection of the concept of Maori wards he answered "well we didn't have a referendum on rural wards" - or words to that effect.
It showed how weak the case for Maori wards is given that urban and rural wards are general in nature & not based upon who your ancestors were for representative and voting reasons.
They're pure grift.
As for low voter turnout - the behavior of councils is one reason why people are disinterested - once voted in, arrogant bureaucrats and individual councilors seem to want to push their own agenda.
Postal votes are an ineffective voting system subject to rort.
Ah, interesting. I missed Mikes breakfast show this morning - had a very early international Zoom meeting. You're right about postal voting.
I voted against a Maori ward in Nelson . However, if it means not having a Council appoint unelected "iwi representatives" to Committees and Council and give them full voting rights maybe it is the best of a very bad idea that Maori have special rights. Watch your Council closely, they are unlikely to take these " No" votes lying down
Good on you for doing the right thing. Nelson’s pretty woke overall.
stop calling them maori wards, theyre for iwi not every day maori.