Mata Season 2 | Episode 15: Pera Paniora on the Kaipara Council and Māori Wards

After the Kaipara District Council voted to suddenly disestablish its Māori ward, Pera Paniora speaks about her seat being scrapped and how the vote unfolded amid loud protests.

Earlier this month Kaipara District Council became the first local government body to scrap its Māori ward after the government passed legislation ordering councils with Māori wards to either axe them or hold a referendum in the 2025 elections.

But it has been reported the move by the Kaipara District Council (KDC) could end up costing them more than $100,000 in legal costs, after it opted to scrap the ward before ratepayers had the opportunity to cast their vote in a referendum. Ngāti Whātua are taking legal action requesting a judicial review in the High Court.

Pera Paniora, who held the seat for the KDC Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward when it was disestablished, by a six to three council vote (with one abstention), told Mata the move was sudden, and consistent with a string of moves the council has taken to shut out Māori voices.

She estimated about 300 people were at the council meeting and calling for the Māori ward to be kept, including members from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei (in Auckland) and from Northland iwi Ngātiwai, Te Roroa, Ngāpuhi.

"The writing was on the wall from the time that I've faced in amongst this council of elected members in the last approximately two years, and so it wasn't surprising for me," Paniora said. 

"But I was quite overwhelmed by the tautoko and the support that we received from all of our mana whenua, iwi and hapū during and throughout the day.

"It was a real show of kotahitanga - unity and solidarity - throughout that day."

Paniora believed the council held the meeting in a way that deliberately excluded those there to support keeping the Māori ward.

"The rest of the elected members had tried really hard to ensure that there was no room in the building - so that building had been chosen specifically to exclude our people - the blinds were put down so they couldn't be seen and the windows were all closed so that they couldn't be heard.

"It was pretty emotional for me. There was a moment there when I had my back to our mokopuna and they were performing waiata and haka, and at that very same time we had a Pākehā gentleman who had petitioned to have Māori wards ... removed in the Kaipara, and ... the things that he was saying I completely disagreed with. 

"And there was a moment there where I thought 'what am I doing listening to this Pākehā and turning my back to my people' - so I turned around and I lifted the blinds up and I let the waiata sing through, and that was a pretty powerful moment for me."

Asked if she felt there had been time to wānanga [discuss and consider] the move amongst the councillors before the vote was taken, Paniora's answer was: "Kāu, no". 

"It happened really quickly, it was an extraordinary meeting that had been called, and we only had two clear working days after the agenda had been released. But, as I said from my time on the council, it was already very clear what the decision would be."

However, Paniora felt the council had already shown the direction it leaned before the vote was taken.

"There were things like, right at the beginning of the term the disestablishment of co-governance arrangements. There was unilateral terminations of MOUs ... and mana-enhancing agreements. 

"There was the removal of te reo from official council documents, and various other things including policies that stopped Māori being able to have input into Māori names that they used in reserves or roads or things like that."

Choosing to hold a poll on the ward's future would have cost the council $5000, compared to the chosen mini-representation review, which it was estimated would cost the council about $25,000, Paniora said.

"In addition to that, because there's a judicial review proceeding in the High Court at the moment we've been advised that that could cost a further $100,000 to the ratepayers to defend that decision - all of which is unbudgeted for."

And Paniora said there was also the possibility the council could be ordered to pay legal costs to another party after a court judgment on the judicial review was made.

"It shouldn't be being spent on this. The cost of the poll would have been $5000 and would have created much less work for our staff as well," she said.

"So at a time when our staff should be looking at preparing our annual plan for the year, as well as our district plan review, they're having to put all of that work aside to work around the clock to meet these diabolical timeframes that the government's placed on local government in order to ensure that that decision is implemented within the statutory timeframes that have been given."

Paniora said the outcome of a referendum - if it was to be held - would be interesting: "And we won't have the opportunity to have a referendum for approximately another decade, so we'll never know".

The demographics of the council's territory varied widely, she said, from Dargaville, "a small rural community", and Mangawhai, a "playground for the rich and retirees of Auckland. So they're worlds apart".

Having a specific Māori seat on the council was important to ensure Māori voices were clearly represented, she said.

"I keep saying this - we live in a representative democracy - it's not all about the majority rule, it's really about a mandate and having that mandate to be able to represent and speak on behalf of Māori.

"That's not necessarily the case if you're in a general ward, particularly with the last Māori councillor who was in a general ward - she didn't feel that she was able to speak for Māori, and also she wanted to be re-elected and didn't want to come across as too Māori. 

"So it really is a seat where you have the unfettered ability to really go hard to advocate for Māori in the community as well as the community in general."

Paniora was not yet sure if she would  stand for council again in a general ward.

National party member and candidate for the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate Hinurewa Te Hau said the potential cost to the council and ratepayers both financially, and in wider terms would be costly.

"It puts us back in our cultural relations with local government - we've come too far to see a council go 'No, we don't want that' ".

She believed most councils would take the decision about Māori wards to a referendum in 2025.

Former Labour MP Meka Whaitiri said she was "saddened" by the decision Kaipara District Council took.

"It's almost like going back to the past - and this is what we're seeing from this government - assimilation policies don't work. They didn't work in the past, and yet we're going back again."

The move ignored research showing a Māori voice at the council table brought added value, Whaitiri said.

"When you take Māori land incorporations, when you take Māori businesses, when you take settled iwi, they're a major economic force within local council [areas].

"And for councils like Kaipara to turn their nose up or turn their backs on what's clearly going to develop in Kaipara - I've been up there, I've visited some of the iwi economic initiatives, and they're turning their back on it. That's going to be a loss for the ratepayers of Kaipara in my view."