6 M Ä ORI REPRESENTATIO N IN LO CAL GOVE R N M E N T Mäori representation in local government He kanohi Mäori kei roto i te Kawanatanga ä-Rohe When Mäori voters in the Bay of Plenty go to the polls this year to elect their regional council they will do so in the confidence there will be three councillors to represent them as Mäori just as, in general elections, they know there will be a Member of Parliament to represent them for the Mäori parliamentary electorate of Waiariki. For the past two elections, the 13 Environment Bay of Plenty councillors have been elected by voters in four general constituencies and three Mäori constituencies, producing 10 general constituency councillors and three Mäori constituency councillors (Environment Bay of Plenty (d), nd). As with Parliament, everyone has only one vote and the number of councillors is based on the number of people on the electoral rolls. Voters in the Mäori constituencies are those who have opted to be on the Mäori electoral roll rather than the general roll. Separate electorate seats in Parliament to represent those New Zealanders choosing to register on the Mäori roll have been a “distinctive feature of New Zealand’s democracy” (Parliamentary Library, 2003) for over 140 years. In the Bay of Plenty, this feature has been extended to regional local government. Nowhere else in New Zealand do Mäori have the certainty that they will be represented as Mäori in local government. The number of Mäori elected to local government remains far lower than their proportion of the population: in the 2007 local government elections less than five per cent of successful candidates were Mäori, although Mäori form nearly 15 per cent of the population. Many councils have no Mäori members at all (Human Rights Commission, 2008, p.74). A special act of Parliament was required for Bay of Plenty Mäori to get the right to vote for regional councillors in their own constituencies. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Mäori Constituency Empowering) Act was passed in 2001, after an extensive process of public consultation. The Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002 extended the same possibility to other councils, who could resolve to do it by a resolution of the council challengeable by a poll of electors. A number of councils have considered the option since then, but none have taken it up. The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance considered Mäori representation when making recommendations on the composition of the new Auckland Council (Royal Commission on Auckland Governance, pp.477-496). Its report took note of the electoral arrangements for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and similar ones that existed briefly for the Auckland Regional Council from 1986 to 1989. It recommended that two Mäori members should be elected to the new Auckland Council by voters registered on the parliamentary Mäori electoral roll and, in addition, one councillor should be appointed by a Mana Whenua Forum to represent the interests of mana whenua in the region. There was widespread public support for this proposal in Auckland, but the Government rejected it, opting instead for the establishment of a statutory Mäori Advisory Board. The Royal Commission’s recommendation remains the first occasion since 2001 that a proposal to establish Mäori seats has been supported by a governmentappointed body. In the Bay of Plenty, the existence of the Mäori seats on the regional council is not a big issue and is positively supported by most councillors. The chair of the council, John Cronin, says: “The system works well for us. It has been a catalyst for an improved relationship between the council and Mäori.” In a media release in August 2009, he noted: “Our Mäori constituency councillors have participated across the whole of the council, not just on Mäori issues. They do a good job both as councillors and presenting Mäori issues, and carry out the same duties as any of the other councillors.” Earlier, he has said: “The