A Te Arawa representative says it is "insulting" and a "farce" the council did not consult with iwi about a proposed new governance structure.
Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Potaua Biasiny-Tule. Photo: Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
On Tuesday, Rotorua Lakes Council's Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee met to discuss the future governance structure of the council, including how a Māori ward would work and how many seats it would have.
Council officers, led by district leadership and democracy deputy chief executive Oonagh Hopkins, put forward a new proposal for one Māori ward with one seat - which flew in the face of submissions by Te Tatau o Te Arawa and other iwi organisations.
In the meeting, councillor Tania Tapsell asked Hopkins if council officers had discussed the new proposal with those groups, and Hopkins said it had not and timing had been an issue.
In the meeting, Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Potaua Biasiny-Tule said it was "insulting" the council had not communicated with the iwi partner.
"Te Tatau is next door.
"There has been ample opportunity for Rotorua Lakes Council to discuss with Te Tatau and they have not."
Hopkins said the council could not consult with Te Tatau as it had been a submitter on the representation review consultation.
"If the Rural Board had put in a submission or Lakes Board had put in a submission, or any other submitter, who has put a submission in, we don't go back and discuss with them alternatives or the direction or the legal advice we have had."
Biasiny-Tule replied: "I thought we were a partner.
"I have been authorised by my rangatira to withdraw from this process because we do not feel that it's equitable or good for Te Arawa and we will appeal."
Biasiny-Tule gathered his things to leave as Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said "that's a shame". He responded, "it's a sham".
A haka was then heard outside the meeting in the atrium outside the council chambers.
The Te Arawa Partnership, signed in December 2015, aimed to establish "an enduring partnership" between the council and the iwi, and established Te Tatau o Te Arawa as voting members of council committees.
Tapsell said the point was not about Te Tatau o Te Arawa, but Te Arawa as iwi partners with the council.
"This is very, very different to what they had been told, what our community had been consulted on and what they were expecting, so I can completely appreciate and understand the anger and upset."
She said she felt one seat for Māori was a "token gesture".
Chadwick said it would have been "inappropriate" for the council to consult with Te Tatau o Te Arawa as with all other submitters.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo: Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
"We've got to keep very clean hands about a process, and find a fair and equitable way forward."
Representation reviews, which decide things such as how many councillors there are and whether wards or at-large constituencies are in place, are a six-yearly legislative requirement for all councils.
The council consulted on its then-proposed structure from September 8 to October 8 and elected members later met in a closed-door workshop to discuss a preferred structure in light of public feedback.
While the council's original proposal consisted of one Māori ward with two seats, one general ward with four seats, four at-large seats and the mayor, a report for Tuesday's meeting stated the council had advised council officers following public feedback, the preferred structure was three Māori ward seats, three general ward seats and four at-large seats.
However, council officers found that preferred structure would be illegal because an equation in the Local Electoral Act means the number of people enrolled in the Māori roll in the district have a bearing on how many seats can be allocated to that ward.
Using the calculation, the maximum number of ward seats was 1.68, which rounded up to two.
The agenda for the meeting stated the committee could consider either a model with one Māori ward with two seats, a general ward with four seats and four at-large seats, or a model with one Māori ward with one seat, a general ward with one seat and eight at-large seats.
In the meeting, Hopkins said the latter achieved better "parity" for voters on the Māori roll because they had the option to vote for nine candidates no matter what roll they were on. The "two-four-four" model meant Māori roll voters could vote for six while other voters could vote for eight.
Rotorua Lakes Council district leadership and democracy deputy chief executive Oonagh Hopkins. Photo: Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
As the model was not lawful, elected members could recommend to the council to instruct the chief executive Geoff Williams to pursue a central government law change on behalf of the council to enable it before the 2022 election, which it ultimately did.
In the meeting lawyer Lachlan Muldowney told elected members a way to achieve that could be via a local bill, which could be submitted to the Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta to consider.
He believed it could be achieved before the next election and the council would be able to reverse any decision they made on Tuesday.
Chadwick said the electoral law was "fundamentally flawed' and Rotorua had a chance to "be leading the way in the country" through a law change to enable an even spread of Māori ward and general ward councillors, and moved the motion to progress the model with one Māori ward seat.
The vote was split equally for and against, which meant Raukawa-Tait, as chairwoman, had the casting vote, and she voted for the model with one Māori ward with one seat.
The recommendation will now be considered by the full council for final adoption.
Outside the meeting, Te Tatau o Te Arawa chairman Te Taru White said he was "not happy" about the council's lack of communication with Te Tatau o Te Arawa, nor the committee's decision to recommend the model with one Māori seat.
Te Tatau o Te Arawa chairman Te Taru White. Photo: Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
He said one guaranteed seat for Māori was "unacceptable" and Te Arawa had clearly said it wanted three.
"We're a partner. They could have at least honoured that partnership. That's just playing with us, that were a 'submitter'. We are a partner."
In response, Chadwick said she was disappointed by the comments.
"Partnership is a two-way agreement.
"Te Tatau o Te Arawa has been involved in the representation review process from the beginning. We have supported them to introduce Māori wards and we support them in wanting to achieve more than one seat within that ward."
She said they wanted the same outcome but disagreed on how to reach it.
"Implementing an imperfect model because it offers better numbers, is in this case, an overly simplistic solution and not the right path to take.
"The decision that needs to be made, needs to be bold and brave, recognize and honour the Treaty of Waitangi and the Fenton Agreement, and be a good fit for our community."
How they voted
That the committee recommends to the council to adopt a final representation model that consists:
One mayor elected at large, one Māori ward with one seat, one general ward with one seat, eight at-large seats and the retention of the Lakes and Rural Community Boards.
FOR
Steve Chadwick
Dave Donaldson
Trevor Maxwell
Phill Thomass
Mercia Yates
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait
AGAINST
Fisher Wang
Sandra Kai Fong
Tania Tapsell
Raj Kumar
Reynold Macpherson
Shirley Trumper
ABSENT
Peter Bentley
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