Pera Paniora on the Kaipara Council and Māori Wards

Mata with Mihingarangi Forbes

Kaipara District Councillor Pera Paniora speaks about her council’s decision to scrap its Māori ward, and commentators Hinurewa Te Hau and Meka Whaitiri discuss the latest in politics.

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…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details