Ngāti Whātua chairperson Dame Naida Glavish at the Auckland High Court during a hearing on the abolition of a Māori ward in Kaipara District. Photo: Lucy Xia
The views of both Ngāti Whātua iwi and the Kaipara District Council have been heard at Auckland High Court, after the iwi challenged the council's decision to abolish its Māori ward.
Kaipara District and Upper Hutt City are the only two councils out of more than 40 with Māori wards to disestablish them.
Under the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2024, councils that had introduced Māori wards without a referendum were required to either abolish them before the 2025 local elections, or hold a binding poll at the election to decide whether to retain the wards in 2028 and 2031.
The new law came into force on 30 July, and at an extraordinary council meeting on 7 August Kaipara District Council voted to disestablish the Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori ward, becoming the first council to do so.
Councils had until 6 September to make their decision.
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, have filled the public gallery at Auckland High Court in support of the legal challenge. Rangatahi also attended, some clad in the Tino Rangatiratanga flag.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua - the legal entity representing the interests of Ngāti Whātua iwi - argued the council has failed its obligations under the Local Government Act (LGA), to ensure Māori involvement in decision-making processes.
Section 81-1(a) of the act required local governments to "establish and maintain processes to provide opportunities for Māori to contribute to the decision-making processes of the local authority".
Section 82 (2) required a local authority to ensure it had in place processes for consulting with Māori.
Ngāti Whātua outside the Auckland High Court during the hearing into the abolition of a Māori ward in Kaipara District. Photo: Lucy Xia
Ngāti Whātua's lawyer Mai Chen told Justice Neil Campbell the scrapping of the Māori ward meant there was "nothing left" for Māori to contribute to decision-making.
She said an email the council's CEO Jason Marris sent to hapū and iwi on 1 August seeking feedback - just a week before the meeting that disestablished the ward - did not amount to consultation in a way compliant with tikanga.
The method the council considered to be a form of engagement was "incredibly disrespectful" to tikanga, and hapū and iwi's plea to be consulted "face to face" was repeatedly disregarded.
It was unreasonable for council not to consult hapū and iwi when they would be most disadvantaged by the scrapping of the ward, she said.
The council overwhelmingly focused on its obligations under the Local Electoral Act, but did not consider its obligations under the Local Government Act, said Chen.
Meanwhile, Kaipara District Council's lawyer Padraig McNamara argued 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 under section 81 of the LGA, it was up to councils to make judgements on how to meet their obligations.
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.
Ngāti Whātua chairperson Dame Naida Glavish leads a waiata at the end of the first day of a hearing into the abolition of a Māori ward in Kaipara District. Photo: Lucy Xia
McNamara said Marris had made clear in that email that consultation of the type undertaken in 2020, leading up to Kaipara council's voting to establish the Māori ward, would not be possible this time.
The day's hearing concluded with a waiata led by Dame Naida Glavish, chairperson of Ngāti Whātua iwi.
Justice Campbell is expected to deliver a decision later this week.