Allanah Burgess is the Māori ward councillor for Marlborough. Photo: Supplied
This week, three councils at the top of the South Island will decide on the future of their Māori wards - and serving councillors hope they will vote to keep them.
The meetings are being held in accordance with the government's changes to the Electoral Act, which say 45 councils that decided to introduce Māori wards since late 2020 must reconsider their decisions before Friday.
Councils in Nelson and Marlborough introduced Māori wards for the first time in the last local government elections, while elected members in Tasman voted in 2023 to establish a Māori ward at the next election in 2025.
If they decide to keep the wards, voters will have the final say in a referendum.
Allanah Burgess, the Māori ward councillor for Marlborough, said stepping into the role for the first time in 2022 was scary.
"It's something that we've never had, it's something that we have never seen ourselves doing and I think just recognising that we have never been in that place before is important in itself.
"To say, 'actually we do recognise that you haven't been here and we do recognise that you do need to be here, so we are ensuring that 100 per cent there will be at least one Māori', because they can't promise that in any other seat."
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She said the ward had been positive for Marlborough, and not just for Māori.
"One thing that I've noticed is that a lot of non-Māori speak to me about council issues too which I thought was really cool. It really made me feel like I had cemented that piece, not only for Māori, but for everybody."
She hoped the councillors would be united in their decision at Tuesday's meeting.
"What I'd like to happen is that we walk in, we all share our thoughts and unanimously vote to retain the seat and unanimously say in an open forum that every single one of us vows to add to the oath they took as councillors, to then advocate within the community, that the Māori ward seat should stay."
Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor said the introduction of a Māori ward had been positive for the council - and her recommendation was to retain it.
"It was an exciting development for Marlborough and it was really widely supported by the council at the time and I have to say the addition of the Māori ward and Māori ward councillor has been of great benefit to council and the province and certainly the constituents that councillor represents."
Taylor said the council would ensure Burgess felt supported through the upcoming process.
"It is not a referendum on her, it is on the position and I know in Marlborough for instance we have rural wards and there has been a lot of discussion at our council table as to why one ward should be singled out for referendum."
Kahu PakiPaki says the situation is "frustrating". Photo: Supplied
In Nelson, fellow first-term Māori ward councillor Kahu PakiPaki said it was disappointing to be facing the decision to remove the ward less than two years after it was first introduced.
"Who we represent and the interests that we want to pursue are part of a bigger picture, this is the thing that frustrates me the most is that we are playing the long game and it is intergenerational.
"The outcomes and the results may not be seen by us in our generation but I hope that our mokopuna are in a place where they don't have to have these trials and tribulations like we do."
He said the ward had given Māori in Whakatū/Nelson a proportionate representation within local government.
"My seat represents eight percent of our community ... we are asking for that eight percent to be represented in our council, we need more than 50 percent of the community to agree that that eight percent should have a say, that's an injustice."
Mayor Nick Smith said there was also a preference to retain the ward in Nelson - but there were a range of views about it both around the council table and across the region.
"There is some concern in the community at the way the Māori ward was created, in that the community did not feel they had a say, there are others who strongly object to having a referendum, my ambition is to just allow our community to be able to have a calm and considered discussion about this issue."
Marlborough will make a decision on the future of its Māori ward on Tuesday, while Nelson and Tasman will debate the future of their wards at meetings on Thursday.
