Gisborne councillors have voted unanimously in favour of establishing Māori wards.
Gisborne district councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown. Photo: Aaron van Delden
There were tears of joy, hugs, and applause from the crowded public gallery after the vote which took place at an extraordinary meeting at Gisborne District Council this morning.
Councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown shed tears as she explained to her colleagues it was the right thing to do.
"The time is always right to do what is right," she said. "I believe that this isn't a racist discussion, it's righteous one. It's time to do the right thing by our people."
She said a number of submitters to the proposal had pointed out there were already Māori representatives on the council.
She said that did not they had the right or the knowledge to speak on behalf of Māori.
"I need to be really clear, I've only claimed my Māori heritage in the last 12 years of my life," she said.
"I wasn't raised Māori. In fact, I didn't know I was Māori until I was 11. I didn't know what Māori was. That's inherent of my upbringing, my Pākehā father told us we were not Māori. So, to represent Māori, for me, is actually hard work."
She said Māori knew what was best for their people, and for the whenua.
"There is so much knowledge in this region about this region, about the whenua, the awa and the moana that we've never engaged with because of systems - systems that are frankly not Māori. This system. So, today, I believe we are doing what we should have been doing a long time ago."
Ngāti Oneone chair Charlotte Gibson congratulated the council, saying she was elated Māori would now be guaranteed a voice at the table.
"We think that after years and years and years of councils and boards telling us what to do, how to do, and why to do, I reckon we can do a better job and that's because we know our people and our area intimately," she said.
Ngati Oneone chair Charlotte Gibson embraces Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann after a vote in favour of Māori wards. Photo: LDR / Alice Angeloni
She said the fight to get a Māori ward across the line had not been easy.
"Emotionally, it's been very hard," she said.
"It's really hard to explain. I'm a product of a generation that didn't vote. I'm a product of a generation that got told not to speak Māori. I'm a product of a generation who therefore stepped out of any Pākehā type of decision making purely because of our past history in those spaces.
"But I'm quite excited with the next generation who know who they are and where they come from."
Mayor Rehette Stoltz said she had been asking herself whether the current representation model was "fit for purpose".
"I think the obvious answer is no."
This was the opportunity to work with the community to address that, Stoltz said.
"Our job now is to go out and get our community on board, tell them why this is good for us ... this is our opportunity not only to address Māori representation but also to put our weight behind our rural councillors."
Deputy Mayor Josh Wharehinga ended the hour-long discussion, in which each councillor gave their piece, with a teary kōrero.
"If not us, then who, and if not now, then when," he said.
Today was the last day councillors could pass the resolution to be effective in time for the 2022 election.
The council must now give public notice of its decision and of the right for electors to demand a region-wide poll on the matter.
Only 1625 signatures are needed on a petition to require the council to go to a binding poll on Māori wards.
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