Davina Smolders: Far North district councillor on the council signing up five iwi

A Far North Councillor is accusing the council of keeping details of iwi agreements under the rug.

Davina Smolders says the council is in the process of negotiating and signing Mana Whakahono ā Rohe with five iwi and one hapu. 

She is demanding these agreements be made public so voters and other elected officials can have their say.

Smolders says the deals are binding statutory agreements. 

She says they establish permanent Māori governance and are completely 'uncosted'. 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now I've also got a development for you in the
story of the Far North District Council trying to sign
these deals with EWI. This is the Manafucker Horn or
are or hair deals. Counselors have apparently been told that
five of these deals are going to be completed soon,
but the details are being hidden from the elected officials.
Divina Smolders is a counselor for the Far North District
Council who's drawn attention to this consistently consistently and is

(00:21):
with us now high Divina.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good evening here there, good endings.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
What is going on here that they don't want to
show you the information?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Wow, it's a bit of a horrifying story at the
Far North District Council. They've announced that they're negotiating with
five EWI and they are not showing elected members the
drafts or the public. And as we know in the
previous Manafaca hon or heir agreements that they are binding
statutory agreements. They established permanent Mari governance. They're completely uncosted

(00:51):
and putting rate payers on the financial help. And lastly,
to put a kicker in, the council has a significant
and engagement policy that it must follow and what could
possibly be more significant than permanently changing how our district
is governed? So yes, a horrifying story. Indeed. So what however,
I heard earlier on tonight that David Seymour said that

(01:12):
the act Party were pushing to stop new ones and
possibly rescind old ones.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, and we're going to get to that because I
do want to talk about there, because there's something of
a development. But what is the reason that's been given
to you guys for not being allowed to see the.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Information that they're still negotiating and that they haven't really
given a reason. I've asked the CEO, I've asked the
mayor and.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Oh, hang on, who's your CEO, guy, Hollyford? Yeah. Interesting,
I'll come back to that maybe at some later date. Okay,
So have you been given is your understanding that you
will have no input at all in this process or
are you expected to be able to vote at the
last minute on whether to sign or not.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
I expect that it will come to full counsel once
it has been thetiate it and once it has all
been finalized between EWI and the staff right and the mayor.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
So, so what is going on? Here apparently around the country,
and you've drawn our attention to it, is that councils
are rushing to get this through before the new RAMA
laws come in because obviously if the thing is signed
then under the new RMA laws it will carry over.
Is this going to now that David Seymour says that
they are going to move to stop that, So it
doesn't matter if you've signed it or not, it's not
going to apply at all after the new RAMA laws.

(02:30):
Will councils suddenly stop signing these agreements or all they
carry on?

Speaker 2 (02:35):
It depends on what the National Party in New Zealand. First.
This is the government's biggest test that is put before
them and depends how much guts they've got on what
they will do. So in the next two weeks is
their big opportunity to get it right. Actor saying all
the right things on how to do that, and so
if we're going to change it, now is the time
to change it. Essentially, ee have the key to the house,

(02:59):
they have full exclusive access to all the bedrooms and
they're on the renovation committee and the rate payers are
paying the mortgage. So instead of changing the locks on
the doors, we need a whole new house. All right,
so X will be doing that.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Hey, thank you, Devina appreciate it. The VENA Smolders Far
North District councilor

Speaker 2 (03:16):
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive listen live to
news talks that'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio