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Wellington.Scoop
The Wellington City Council today confirmed the decision of its strategy and policy committee and agreed to add mana whenua representation to council committees, with the representatives having a vote and being paid.
Mayor Andy Foster and Cr Sean Rush changed their votes and supported the plan, leaving opposition from only three councillors. They had voted against the plan at the previous committee meeting.
A historic day for council with agreement to share power with mana whenua! A special thanks to mana whenua for their graciousness, @jilldaynz for leading the charge and to @MayorOfWelly and Sean Rush for changing their vote to right a long term injustice. pic.twitter.com/R1YMXjFOW0
Iwi representatives will sit on all committees except the chief executive review committee from July. John Coffey, chairman of the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust that manages Taranaki Whānui’s treaty settlement package, said iwi and the council shared similar goals. “What you want as a council for the people of Wellington is what we want too,” Coffey told the councillors. “You will not succeed without us, and we will not succeed without you. It’s as simple as that.”
KEVIN STENT/Stuff
Helmut Modlik, the new chief executive of Ngati Toa, at the Takapuwahia Marae, Porirua. Ngāti Toa Rangatira chief executive Helmut Modlik said the decision was a historic moment following the failings of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Thursday, 29 April 2021, 5:29 am
Waiata, hongi, hugs and kisses followed today’s
Wellington City Council vote to add mana whenua
representation to Council committees later this year, with
representatives both having a vote and being paid.
The
Council voted 11-3 to enable one representative each from
Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and Ngāti Toa
Rangatira to sit on each Council committee and subcommittee
and have voting rights, from 1 July.
The arrangement
would not extend to the Council’s CEO Performance Review
Committee, the city’s two community boards or District
Licencing Committee.
The recommendation stems from a