Post by Kiwi Frontline on Apr 23, 2021 16:12:01 GMT 12
Rob Paterson reports on the Maori ward/s Tauranga City Council meeting.
On Monday 12 April 2021 the 4 Tauranga City Council Commissioners (TCC) ratified the 2020 Council Decision to put in place and impose a Maori ward on Tauranga.
As Ms. Mahuta had appointed and installed the Commissioners in our opinion they were not about to cross her by opposing the trashing of democracy effort contained in her Local Authority Electoral Amendment Act 2021.The one sided Bay of Plenty Times (below) report pretty much sums up the charade although references like’ legal loopholes’ when that was actually the law and referring to ‘5000 signatures’ when over 6500 signatures were obtained does nothing to enhance the medias credibility on this issue.
On Monday 5 April 2021 a Joint Council /Maori Committee Group (minus all the ex-Councillor representatives who had been sidelined so could have no input) unanimously ie the maori contingent passed a motion requesting Council to ratify the 2020 Maori ward decision. The TCC staff report which could hardly be described as impartial that accompanied the Maori Committee feedback promoted ratification as the preferred option to the Commissioners.
Locals Richard Prince and Rob Paterson had managed to get speaking rights limited to only 5 minutes each at the Public forum held prior to the full Council meeting on Monday and made oral representations supported by significant written material which was handed to the Commissioners. When the Council meeting moved into normal mode the Maori ward issue then came up for further consideration, almost immediately.
The Commissioners acknowledged receipt of the TCC staff report (presumably read by the Commissioners) and then without any discussion, further consideration or questioning simply moved and adopted the recommendations in that report - incredibly they had not seen fit to even read the full written representations made by Messrs Prince and Paterson which most people would think was rather disconcerting to put it politely. While the outcome was of course probably inevitable the Commissioners could at least have paid lip service to democracy and adjourned the matter for full consideration of all the material before them and consulted with the public, after all they had until 21 May 2021 to reach a decision and always had the option to do nothing.
The written representations (below) which in our view dealt comprehensively with the Maori ward issue may hopefully assist others who are currently taking action with their councils on the topic.
In conclusion the presentations made against Maori wards were clearly a complete waste of time and the superficial way in which Commissioners have dealt with this matter inspires little confidence in their ability to govern Tauranga in an even handed manner – our impression is that this predetermined outcome simply doesn’t pass any sort of test of fairness.
Rob Paterson
Tauranga
On Monday 12 April 2021 the 4 Tauranga City Council Commissioners (TCC) ratified the 2020 Council Decision to put in place and impose a Maori ward on Tauranga.
As Ms. Mahuta had appointed and installed the Commissioners in our opinion they were not about to cross her by opposing the trashing of democracy effort contained in her Local Authority Electoral Amendment Act 2021.The one sided Bay of Plenty Times (below) report pretty much sums up the charade although references like’ legal loopholes’ when that was actually the law and referring to ‘5000 signatures’ when over 6500 signatures were obtained does nothing to enhance the medias credibility on this issue.
On Monday 5 April 2021 a Joint Council /Maori Committee Group (minus all the ex-Councillor representatives who had been sidelined so could have no input) unanimously ie the maori contingent passed a motion requesting Council to ratify the 2020 Maori ward decision. The TCC staff report which could hardly be described as impartial that accompanied the Maori Committee feedback promoted ratification as the preferred option to the Commissioners.
Locals Richard Prince and Rob Paterson had managed to get speaking rights limited to only 5 minutes each at the Public forum held prior to the full Council meeting on Monday and made oral representations supported by significant written material which was handed to the Commissioners. When the Council meeting moved into normal mode the Maori ward issue then came up for further consideration, almost immediately.
The Commissioners acknowledged receipt of the TCC staff report (presumably read by the Commissioners) and then without any discussion, further consideration or questioning simply moved and adopted the recommendations in that report - incredibly they had not seen fit to even read the full written representations made by Messrs Prince and Paterson which most people would think was rather disconcerting to put it politely. While the outcome was of course probably inevitable the Commissioners could at least have paid lip service to democracy and adjourned the matter for full consideration of all the material before them and consulted with the public, after all they had until 21 May 2021 to reach a decision and always had the option to do nothing.
The written representations (below) which in our view dealt comprehensively with the Maori ward issue may hopefully assist others who are currently taking action with their councils on the topic.
In conclusion the presentations made against Maori wards were clearly a complete waste of time and the superficial way in which Commissioners have dealt with this matter inspires little confidence in their ability to govern Tauranga in an even handed manner – our impression is that this predetermined outcome simply doesn’t pass any sort of test of fairness.
Rob Paterson
Tauranga