Māori wards more hotly contested

Competition for Māori ward seats around Aotearoa at this year’s local body elections is heating up, with candidate numbers topping those in previous polls.

There are 142 candidates standing for 62 Māori ward council seats across 34 local bodies, according to nomination data from councils’ websites. This means there is an average of 2.3 people running for each position.

In contrast, local government elections in the past two decades have seen an average of two candidates per seat.

This year’s election is also the first time 31 of those local authorities, including the Hamilton and Wellington city councils, have established Māori wards, meaning more than 50 new seats are up for grabs.

All Māori seats received nominations, but 10 positions out of the 62 were uncontested, including both Te Pūao Māori ward seats on Palmerston North City Council and the two Rangitı¯kei District Council roles at the Tiikeitia ki Tai (Coastal) Ward and Tiikeitia ki Uta (Inland) Ward.

The most sought-after positions are in Te Tai Tokerau, with five people putting their hand up for the only Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward seat at Kaipara District Council. Meanwhile, Far North District Council has 18 candidates lining up for the four seats of the Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward.

Gisborne City Council got 13 nominations for its five Tairāwhiti Māori Ward seats.

Bonita Bigham (Ngāruahine, Te tiawa), chairperson of Te Maruata (the Māori Committee) at Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), said she was not surprised at the number of candidates.

‘‘It’s a reflection of the work that whānau, hapū and iwi put into the representation review for councils around the country.’’

Bigham, who stood unopposed to fill the new Taranaki Regional Council’s Māori constituency, also said it was not unusual in te ao Māori to have roles uncontested as a lot of work had been done behind the scenes since Māori seats were established.

‘‘[Iwi and hapū] will have been identifying candidates and talking to people to look for those who they thought was most suitable.’’

But more needed to be done to help communities understand the importance of having more Māori voices in the decision-making process, as well as fostering better relationships between iwi and hapū so the decisions were inclusive of all te ao Māori, she said.

LGNZ’s Susan FreemanGreene said it was fantastic to see people running for Māori seats. ‘‘We always want our council tables to look like the communities they serve, and we know historically we’ve had low representation of Māori on our councils.’’