Post by Kiwi Frontline on Nov 23, 2020 18:53:11 GMT 12
GOVERNING FOR EVERY NEW ZEALANDER – by Dr Muriel Newman.
Maori ward supporters are calling for a polling moratorium to be imposed to prevent communities from overturning their council’s decisions.
Unbelievably, this includes the Northland Regional Council, which is writing to the Minister, not only to support the abolition of petition rights, but to request “a moratorium or the like on the ability to demand a poll”.
If you, or anyone you know, lives in the Northland region and is eligible to support the Northland Regional Council, Whangarei District Council or Kaipara District Council petitions for referenda on the Maori wards, please visit the Democracy Northland website at democracynorthland.co.nz for forms and full details. Please share this information as far and wide as you can!
The reality is that New Zealanders do not want their councils divided by race. Communities want us united by the things we have in common, not divided by our differences. That’s why petition rights should stay.
However, with Local Government New Zealand having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with iwi leaders back in 2015, to work in secret on advancing matters of strategic significance to iwi, including “local democratic representation and decision-making”, it is clear that the pressure on local councils to introduce Maori wards is not going to go away – it will only get stronger.
That’s why a law change is needed – not to remove petition rights, but to remove Maori wards altogether. It’s what National MP Tony Ryall attempted to do in 2006 through a Private Members Bill, the Local Electoral (Repeal of Race-Based Representation) Amendment Bill. National and ACT should be picking up where Tony Ryall left off – supporting an end to race based division within local government.
If Jacinda Ardern is to govern for all New Zealanders, she must not only reject Andrew Judd’s call for removing petition rights, but she should remove Maori wards altogether.........
www.nzcpr.com/governing-for-every-new-zealander/
Maori ward supporters are calling for a polling moratorium to be imposed to prevent communities from overturning their council’s decisions.
Unbelievably, this includes the Northland Regional Council, which is writing to the Minister, not only to support the abolition of petition rights, but to request “a moratorium or the like on the ability to demand a poll”.
If you, or anyone you know, lives in the Northland region and is eligible to support the Northland Regional Council, Whangarei District Council or Kaipara District Council petitions for referenda on the Maori wards, please visit the Democracy Northland website at democracynorthland.co.nz for forms and full details. Please share this information as far and wide as you can!
The reality is that New Zealanders do not want their councils divided by race. Communities want us united by the things we have in common, not divided by our differences. That’s why petition rights should stay.
However, with Local Government New Zealand having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with iwi leaders back in 2015, to work in secret on advancing matters of strategic significance to iwi, including “local democratic representation and decision-making”, it is clear that the pressure on local councils to introduce Maori wards is not going to go away – it will only get stronger.
That’s why a law change is needed – not to remove petition rights, but to remove Maori wards altogether. It’s what National MP Tony Ryall attempted to do in 2006 through a Private Members Bill, the Local Electoral (Repeal of Race-Based Representation) Amendment Bill. National and ACT should be picking up where Tony Ryall left off – supporting an end to race based division within local government.
If Jacinda Ardern is to govern for all New Zealanders, she must not only reject Andrew Judd’s call for removing petition rights, but she should remove Maori wards altogether.........
www.nzcpr.com/governing-for-every-new-zealander/