Let's kōrero about Māori Wards

Update: 28 October 2023

At the Council hui on Wednesday 25 October, the Council made the decision that for the next election it will establish Māori Ward(s) for electoral purposes.

There was strong Iwi/Māori support for this and this was very apparent with the large number of Hauraki Iwi that attended the Council meeting and spoke in support of Māori Wards being established.

Council will now undertake a review of its overall representation arrangements that will look at how many Councillors overall we have and whether they are elected by wards or at large and what our ward boundaries might be.

Read the full media release in the Documents list.

Watch highlights from the decision in the Video link

Whakapapa | Background

The Government has made changes to let local councils decide whether or not to have Māori wards within their district. We are engaging with our communities to see if it is something that Hauraki Māori want, before making a decision.

The last time we heard formally from the community about Māori wards, for the Hauraki District, was five years ago. At that time a decision was made by Council to not go ahead with Māori Wards.

We know things change, so it’s important to build knowledge of what Māori wards will mean for the Hauraki District so our people are in a good position to give their feedback before a decision is made.

A number of hui will take place around the district, from August to September and will provide an opportunity for Māori to ask questions and share their views.

Council’s current engagement with Māori

Māori wards are a pathway to increase Māori participation in decision-making, however Council recognise that this is not the only opportunity afforded to Council to enable this to occur.

For this reason, Council is actively considering other changes including its internal structure and resourcing in this area, as well as looking to develop partnership agreements with each Mana Whenua Iwi within the Hauraki District.