FNDC has long been
pushing for a unitary
authority in the Far North which combines the powers
and authorities of both Regional and District Councils.
It has also long been trying to get the support of iwi for this proposal.
To date the hapū who instruct Te Runanga-a-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu have declined
to support because neither Regional nor District Councils are Māori let alone Ngāti Kahu structures.
Additionally both councils, but FNDC in particular, have consistently been anti-hapū
mana whenua and rangatiratanga. In
fact right now FNDC is appealing to the Supreme Court
against Ngāti Kahu’s win last year on behalf of the hapū Te Whānau Moana in the High Court
over Te
Ana o Taite.
Since April this year, a group of council and iwi
leaders calling themselves the “Better
Local Government Working Party” have been promoting a proposal whereby the
four councils in Northland
(i.e. Whangarei
District Council, Kaipara
District Council, Far North District Council and Northland
Regional Council) are restructured into two unitary councils. They
claim this reduction will bring greater efficiencies and
cost savings to ratepayers, increased productivity and improvements for staff,
simplified planning processes for developers, effective representation for
Māori and better governance all round.
On that logic, wouldn’t it be better to reduce the four to one or less?
Last month they invited
community leaders to a meeting on Thursday 26th July.
But on 24th July they sent a special
exclusive invitation to iwi
leaders to attend a
separate hui on the 7th August, instead. Apparently
the change was suggested so that we could feel comfortable with asking questions and providing feedback … pertaining
to the draft application developed through the Better Local Government Working
Party. I appreciate their concern for my comfort, but suspect
that holding an exclusive hui is more about getting their agenda passed than
anything else. Hei aha.
By and large
Ngāti Kahu don’t care how councils structure themselves because it’s not their
structure or number that are problems for us.
Rather, it’s their ignorance of and hostility towards hapū mana whenua.
Other iwi (presumably at the instruction of their hapū) support the proposed retructure because they’ve been guaranteed a few Māori seats on each council and reckon that will make them hapū-friendly. The fact that Māori will still be a minority on councils ruled by very hapū-unfriendly laws has either escaped them, or doesn’t worry them. I’m reminded of a cartoon from my childhood in which a predator meets a rooster who sees nothing but a cute friend, while the predator sees nothing but a juicy roast.
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