Mike's Minute: Māori ward seats voting wraps up

The process isn't over, but the Hawke’s Bay District Council was the latest yesterday to confirm a decision they had made earlier to introduce a Māori seat to their operation. 

Under the new law passed by Wellington, if you had done that you need to either drop the seat at next year's local body elections or take it to a vote. 

They have voted to take it to a vote. A lot of councils have done the same thing. 

I think in totality this is a good thing. 

Having race-based seats is wrong. But at the very least you have to give your constituents a say, which has been the crime quite rightly identified and corrected by the Government. 

Part of the argument put forward in Hawke’s Bay, as I'm sure it has been in various council meetings, is Māori voices are under threat. 

Now, the trouble with that is it simply isn't true and never has been. In that misrepresentation of the facts is the beauty of democracy. 

Democracy is alive and well in this country. It's just sadly one of those things we take for granted. 

Part of the democratic process is anyone can stand, anyone can have their voices heard, and it's far from being under threat 

The fascinating bit now, once all the decisions on elections are made, is how many votes for seats will there be, and will anyone be able to get a majority to actually earn a seat? 

If every single vote votes 'no', what has that told us about the entire Māori seat exercise? 

Could it be in certain areas, maybe Northland, Gisborne and possibly Hawke’s Bay, that a campaign can be successfully run to get enough numbers over the line, and if that happens does that spur others on? 

Could it be that the democratic exercise of actually voting leads to a growth in the number of Māori seats? Imagine that. Success by election, growth by democracy and a voice heard and acted upon in a positive way. 

Surely the prospect of that potential is far more satisfying, and satisfactory legally, than the gerrymandered mess we have had up until now? 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now the process isn't over, but the Hawks Bay District
Council was the latest yesterday to confirm a decision that
they've made earlier to introduce a Mari seat to their operation. Now,
under this new law, if you've missed it passed by
Wellington the central government, if you've done that, in other words,
introduced a new Maory seat, you either have to drop
that seat it next year's local body election or take
it to a vote. They have voted to take it

(00:21):
to a vote. A lot of councils have done the
same thing. I think in totality that's probably the right
thing to do. It's a good thing to do. Having
race based seats, of course is wrong, but at the
very least you have to give your constituents a say.
Which has been the crime quite rightly identified and corrected
by the government. Part of the argument put Fordenhawk's Bay,
as I'm sure it has been in various council meetings
around the country, is Marie voices are under threat. Now.

(00:42):
The trouble with that is it simply isn't true. It
never has been, And in that misrepresentation of the facts
is the beauty of democracy. Democracy is alive and well
in this country, it's just sadly one of those things
that we take for granted part of the democratic process
as anyone can stand, anyone can have their voices heard.
Far from being under threat, they're not the fascinating. But now,
once all the decisions on elections are made, is how

(01:04):
many votes for seats will there be and will anyone
be able to actually get a majority to actually earn
a seat if every single vote votes? Know what's that
told us about the entire Marray seat exercise? Could it
be in certain areas though maybe Northland, Gisbon, possibly Hawks Bay,
that a campaign can be successfully run to get enough
numbers over the line. And if that happens, does that

(01:26):
spur others on? Could it be the democratic exercise of
actually voting leads to a growth in the number of
Marray seats? Imagine that success by election, growth by democracy,
a voice heard enacted upon in a positive way. Surely
the prospect of that potential is far more satisfying and
satisfactory legally than the jury manned mess we have till now.

(01:48):
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