Paturiri Toautu: protest organiser on the protest against Kaipara mayor for karakia ban - Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Hundreds gathered on Wednesday morning to protest the mayor of Kaipara banning karakia in council meetings.

The protests in Dargaville happened today, despite mayor Craig Jepson changing his stance on karakia in council meetings. He now permits them at the opening and closing of meetings.

One of the protest organisers, Paturiri Toautu says he was happy with today's turnout, as he worked hard to get the word out to a wide range of people. He believed this protest was necessary, despite Craig Jepson reversing his stance.

"What people don't understand is that karakia belongs to tikanga Maori, it belongs to us as Maori. And it's also basically the only tikanga Maori that we had. We had that one minute karakia in Te Reo Maori and that's all we had."

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