Nelson's Māori Ward councillor Kahu Paki Paki. (File photo) Photo: Supplied
With five days of voting left in local elections Māori Ward councillors, even those being elected unopposed, are campaigning hard to retain Māori wards.
There are 12 candidates elected unopposed across 11 local councils - these are single seats contested by only one candidate, with the exception of Hauraki District Council which has two candidates elected into its Te Pakikau o te Ika Māori Ward (two seats available).
At the regional level, six candidates will be elected unopposed into Māori constituencies across five Regional Councils.
By comparison, in the 2022 local elections 14 of the 45 Māori wards and constituencies were uncontested, according to Local Government NZ, the national body for councils.
Nelson's incumbent Māori Ward councillor Kahu Paki Paki will return to the council unopposed for his second term. In fact all three councils at the top of the South Island will see their Māori Ward candidates elected unopposed.
Paki Paki said despite running unopposed, this election has "been harder than you could probably ever imagine," as he campaigns to retain his ward with a different section of the community.
"I thought at least it's going to be a silver lining. I naively had this thing of going, 'well, at least I don't have to campaign.' You know, convincing the aunties over a cup of tea is one thing, but convincing the rest of the community, that realisation of, 'oh, we've actually got a referendum and we have the mana of our community to uphold.' It's not the seat. It's the right to be able to have that seat."
By its nature the referendum devalues the role of Māori wards, as even if candidates are successful in their election campaign there is a chance they would sit through their entire first term with the end of their seat in sight, he said.
"When we think about what we do as iwi and mana whenua, we actively look at intergenerational planning. We are involved in the long game and how can we be effective if we are not part of the long plan, if we are only there temporarily? And so that in itself was something that I think was a disincentive for some very competent and capable people."
The referendum itself devalues the role of Māori wards, as the majority of people decide whether or not a minority should be allowed to be at the table, he said.
"That in itself is an aspect of democracy, but that is the tyranny of the majority. The Māori ward seats in Whakatū constitute 8 percent of the say around council, and that's really only one vote. So the one vote that I am able to execute for the Nelson City Council is reflective of the number of qualifying for the population here in Nelson with that 8 percent."
Te Maruata, the national body for Māori elected members in local government, co-chairperson and Whakatāne District Councilor Toni Boynton is not running unopposed this time round but has experience in the past.
"So it has been a very hard campaign, mainly because as a Māori ward councillor, you're basically running three campaigns. The first one always as a Māori ward councillor is about education, voter education," she said.
The second campaign is the Māori wards referendum, which has an education element as well, she said.
And finally the rest of the energy goes to campaigning to retain her council seat, she said.
Te Maruata Co-Chair and Whakatāne District Councilor Toni Boynton Photo: Suplied
Boynton said the process of candidate selection for Māori wards works differently than general wards and involves discussions with local hapū, iwi and marae.
It's not a process unique to Māori and it doesn't prevent anybody else from putting their candidacy forward but she said that could be another reason for the amount of candidates standing unopposed.
"So if somebody is elected unopposed, it's not necessarily because there's voter apathy. It's because there has been mahi that's already been done, but not only that, it's the mahi that you did way before you put yourself forward for council or your people ask you to put yourself forward for council because that a lot of the time is the push, is that our people will want you to make sure that you stand for council."
If the community have somebody who is standing that they know well and that person is advocating and educating on Māori wards, then it's more likely to push voter turnout up, she said.
"What we're trying to do, particularly for this [election], is to ensure that our Māori voters turn out in force with all sorts of creative ways. We've been working hard with our council to come up with ways in which our people can engage with voting in the most easiest way, in the places that they frequent the most."
Paki Paki said the same conversations happened in Te Tauihu prior to the election so the mana could be given to one candidate.
"What a lot of people aren't aware of is that the Māori community has had these discussions within themselves and between some of our kaumātua and our leaders, iwi leaders, to decide who is the representatives that they've wanted."
Paki Paki said the Māori wards referendum will be a "good litmus test" for where Nelson and the country are at on Māori wards.
"This is a really good opportunity for us to have those tough discussions, to see where we're at, just to measure the progress that we are making."
He encouraged whānau, especially Māori, to get out and vote.
Tuesday is the last day for posting votes by mail, after that votes must be returned to council's ballot boxes, with voting closing at 12pm on October 11.
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