Members of Ngāti Whātua outside the High Court at Auckland on Wednesday. Photo: Lucy Xia
Māori supporting Ngāti Whātua's legal challenge against Kaipara District Council's scrapping of its Māori ward say the move is shameful, and they want to see a remedy going forwards.
On 7 August, Kaipara District Council voted to disestablish its Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward, becoming the first council to do so.
The move came after a government law change which stipulated that councils that had established Māori wards without consultation must either scrap the wards or vote to establish them again, then put their decision to a binding public referendum.
The new law came into force on 30 July, and councils had until 6 September to make their decision.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua's challenge to the council was heard at a judicial review at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday. A decision is yet to be delivered.
The court heard that the council sent an email to hapū and iwi on 1 August seeking feedback, a week before the meeting that disestablished the ward - but Ngāti Whātua's lawyer Mai Chen argued that hapū and iwi's multiple requests to be consulted face to face was ignored.
Ngāti Whātua chair Dame Naida Glavish, who attended the hearing, said she was disappointed at the lack of good will from the chief executive of the council and Kaipara's mayor, which had pushed the iwi to take the legal route.
"It saddens me that tangata whenua have to find a solution, in the courts that belong to tangata Tiriti, over an issue that impacts tangata whenua.
"That's really a sad place to be in this country, so how do I feel about it? Disgusted to say the least," she said.
"The question for them is what do they fear about having a Māori ward? What do they fear about hearing the voice of Māori? Is there something scary about it, why they've done what they've done."
Dame Naida said the council had disregarded Te Tiriti o Waitangi in its decision.
Dame Naida Glavish. Photo: Lucy Xia
"I really don't believe that they give a hoot about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, because they see power in the vote, and that's what they've exercised that's led us to here, so I'm not only talking about the mayor, I'm talking about everyone of them should hang their heads in shame, who voted to do away with the Māori ward," she said.
Dame Naida said there needed to be a reconciliation if there was to be hope of walking together into the future - otherwise, she said, the issue would not go away for a generation or two.
Delilah Te Aōrere Parore-Southon of Te Roroa was one among many iwi and hapū members at the hearing.
She said it was emotional and disheartening to see Te Tiriti dishonoured in the council's decision.
"Our tūpuna signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi me He Whakaputanga, we are kaitiaki of those documents ... and before anything else we would expect Te Tiriti was at the centre."
Te Aōrere Parore-Southon said the council needed to recognise its mistake.
"The major outcome I would personally like to see, is justice for decision-making and the honouring of Maori voice, for issues that really affect us, and the other outcome would be for council to acknowledge that they have made a huge mistake."
Sean Rahui, also of Te Roroa, said the mayor and councillors of Kaipara District Council had created "enormous mamae (pain)", whilst entrenching Kaipara as being a district with views and attitudes that "firmly belong in the last century".
Rahui said he looked forward to being consulted on the matter.
"They need to talk to us, we need to be able to get in the same room and we need to be able to build a relationship."
More than 60 members of Ngāti Whātua, along with other iwi and and hapū including Te Uri o Hau, Te Roroa, Ngātiwai and Te Kuihi, filled the public gallery at the High Court in Auckland in support of the legal challenge.
Ngāti Whātua argued the council had failed in its obligations under the Local Government Act to ensure Māori involvement in decision-making processes.
But the council's lawyer Padraig McNamara said that consultation was not required under either the Local Government Act or the Local Electorate Act.
The council had met its obligations under the acts to involve Māori in decision-making at a governance level, he said.
McNamara said the council had engaged with mana whenua before making its decision via the email sent on 1 August, but conceded it did not consult because it was not legally required to, and "there wasn't time to do so", he said.