Supporters of Māori wards in Whanganui are organising a march in the city next weekend and local iwi leaders are reported to be poised to take legal action after Māori ward candidates’ statements were left out of the candidate profile booklet.
Watch the full report on TVNZ+.
Julie Herewini aims to be one of Whanganui’s first Māori ward councillors. She told TVNZ’s Marae that historically, the district has had “extremely poor representation”.
“In 153 years we’ve had five Māori candidates around the table. We make up 27% –plus– of the community and to have only had five voices in the last 153 years, it just shows that the system isn’t working for us here, and it shows the need for the Māori ward seats to exist.”
She is one of five candidates, including Kiritahi Firmin, Geoff Hipango, Hayden Potaka and Phil (Bear) Reweti, vying for one of two Māori ward seats for the upcoming term.
There is also a referendum – open to all enrolled voters – to determine to future of the Māori ward for 2028 and 2031.
Candidates have been assured that the missing information will be sent out to Māori ward electors, but they are calling for all voters to receive their statements.
“Why? Because in our candidate statements we’re promoting, we’re telling our people why we’re standing on the Māori board,” said Firmin.
“That’s our kind of pepeha. Telling them why the referendum is really, really important, telling them why we must work together in solidarity and unity with all of our tangata tiriti, manuhiri tuārangi, tauiwi, taura here, rātou katoa,” she said.
Herewini added: “That’s the whole point of us to getting out there and saying, ‘Hey, look, we’ve got some stunning candidates running [and] they are more than qualified, they have values that reflect the whole community, and they can sit there and contribute to the table just like any other candidate’.”
But while the Whanganui District Council agrees, it has refused to foot the $70,000 bill for a mistake made by the external company contracted to run the election, electionz.com.
Electoral officer Warwick Lampp, of electionz.com, told Local Democracy Reporting it was human error during the proofing and printing process.
“I have put in place steps to remedy it by media release and individual letter to each elector on the Māori roll. I have personally phoned each of the five candidates to apologise.”
All 4810 Māori ward electors are being sent an individual letter with the candidate profiles included.
“While the error is unfortunate and regrettable, by taking action quickly, I believe I have taken necessary steps to ensure that the integrity of the election is maintained,” Lampp said.
On the council website, a notice of the issue also appears on the top of the page, linking to Māori ward profiles and candidate videos.
Hipango believes the legitimacy of the democratic process has been undermined now that it has become a question about cost.
“All [they] had to do was place something in the envelope and send it out, and we’re bearing the cost for that. We never made the mistake, they did, but the result of that mistake impacts upon us as the Māori ward candidates,” he said.
Firmin believes it’s an unfair process. “No one asked the rural community boards to have a referendum. Why is it that us as Māori under the founding document of our country, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, have to go through this process? It’s just absurd and it’s not right,” she said.
It’s not an isolated incident with Ōpōtiki, South Wairarapa and Manawatū reporting issues of their own to do with missing Māori ward candidate information, sparking concerns about the legitimacy of the referendums.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon fielded a question on the matter in the House last week. He said it was a concerning development but that it was a council responsibility and that they should be held accountable.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said it was “obviously unfortunate”, but he was “comfortable” that appropriate changes have been done.
The Whanganui Māori ward candidates are now calling for a halt to the referendum.
Herewini said: “There is no way that, especially now that it has come to light that it has occurred in three or four different regions, just with the Māori ward candidates, you cannot say that this is democracy. This undermines the democracy of our country if we continue to progress with having a referendum.”
Whanganui iwi leaders are said to be considering court action.
“We gotta step back a little, take a breather, and just see the immense mistake that’s been done,” said Firmin. “It’s not just Whanganui. It’s Feilding, it’s Wairarapa, it’s Ōpōtiki. We need to find out what else we can do legally, and we need to make sure that this never happens again.”
Herewini added: “We’re actually missing. We are unseen, and how many years and decades have we actually been fighting to be seen as part of the community? And the fact that they’re not prepared to rectify it by showing us to the community puts us in the ‘other’ space. It’s 2025, how is this happening?”
Their call is supported by general ward candidate Jay Rerekura who believes the referendum process is no longer legitimate.
“I think the mistake’s been made,” he said. “The only way you can remedy this is to come back to it in the next election cycle. So, I think it’s really important for a Māori worldview to sit around that table to have that lens over every decision that’s made on our council.”
