Posted: August 20, 2025

The value of Māori Wards in a system under strain

For Iwi newspaper Pipiwharauroa, we were asked a few questions around Māori Wards and Te Tiriti-based governance, activating rangatahi and the underrepresented, and our vision for Tairāwhiti.

Protecting Māori Wards and strengthening Te Tiriti-based governance in Tairāwhiti

As an elected councillor and a co-Branch President in a union navigating Te Tiriti-based governance, I will advocate for Māori Wards on the following basis.

Te Tiriti-based governance guides the whole whenua and its people through a union of Te Ao Māori and what you might call western democratic capitalism.

It is not a case of "ok, you look after your lot, I'll look after mine".

It is about being greater than the sum of our parts; it is uniquely ours.

Pragmatically as a Tangata Tiriti voice, I promote Māori Wards for bringing:

• proxy representation of our rural East Coast communities; and
• a guaranteed voice for our precious natural environment and culture.

Right now, without Māori Wards we'd be at risk of having a council just made up of city folk like me, and nobody wants that!

Ensuring more Māori, rangatahi, and underrepresented communities vote and are seen

Those that aren't voting need to appreciate the power they have and why voting matters. But they won't appreciate that unless they're seeing and hearing the stories of action, progress, and change that resonate with them.

It is not surprising that many aren't voting when the public election conversation gets reduced to rates rises among property owners.

There is good work happening here through the support and values of Trust Tairāwhiti.

We need to support councillors that push the Trust to not just continue, but to extend themselves further into communities where the underrepresented see it, feel it, taste it. And use our local talents and expertise from creative centres of learning like Rāngai to tell their stories.

My 25-year vision for Tairāwhiti, and how to start moving us there

I like to imagine a uniquely Te Tiriti-based future for our place.

Left alone, the pursuit of individual material wealth and attention is discrediting community, guardianship, and connection to the environment. Even religion with its compassion, sacrifice, and service has struggled against a system that only wishes we outdo each other.

Embedding Te Ao Māori ensures we hold on to manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga↗ for the betterment of all.

Tairāwhiti can be a resilient, self-sufficient place that not only earns its way in the world through locally-owned high value domestic and international export, but it stands out for the way it reinvests to protect communities, education, and the environment.

Even in the face of wider turmoil, this is a smart insulated place where we still say things like "jeez, I'm just glad I'm here".

Practically, I am only one voice at the table, but I will use it to prioritise this vision through the decisions we make. For more on that you might need to keep digging around my website or catch me out and about.