Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
A protest was held in May in the city against the council s decision.
The local Taiwhenua said current laws were in breach of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the Crown s Treaty obligations to ensure Māori had adequate and proportionate representation at a local government level.
The five claimants are from the local iwi authority Te Taiwhenua o te Whanganui ā Orotū - Tamati Cairns, Shayne Walker, Tania Eden, Matthew Mullany, Alayna Hokianga and Hori Reti. To date, Māori representation and participation in local government has continued to languish well below the proportion of Māori in the population, the claim read.
Napier s council-owned housing may have to be sold
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Second-placed Marist face long trip to keep top-spot hopes alive
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Marty Sharpe17:32, Jul 14 2021
Stuff
Napier’s Pania of the Reef contemplates, perhaps, the prospect of Māori wards on the city council. (File photo)
A decision by Napier City Council not to establish Māori wards for next year s council elections has prompted a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgent hearing, asserting the Crown has breached Treaty principles. A law change earlier this year meant councils could establish Māori wards without the possibility that a poll signed by at least five percent of ratepayers could overturn a councils decision. Councils had until May 21 to make a decision in time for the 2022 local government elections. Thirty-two councils chose to create Māori wards, joining the three councils that already had them.
No soap in too many public loos - that just suds, especially during Covid
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