Māori ward councillors gathered at the Super Local 2026 conference have strongly pushed back against central government reforms, criticising proposed changes to local representation and additional responsibilities being placed on councils.
Te Maruata co-chair and New Plymouth District Councillor Dinnie Moeahu described the government’s approach as eroding local input. “That’s what we’ve seen over the last three years, it’s like death by a thousand cuts, so you’ve got the Mana Whakahono-a-rohe most and many don’t actually know what that means,” Moeahu said.
He also criticised proposals for councils to assist with truancy, calling it, “the dumbest thing that anyone has ever come up with because what are you talking about when we have some key core responsibilities and now you’re expecting us to then do your job, be babysitters to, then, dob them in the logic behind that is just dumb, plain and simple dumb”.
Moeahu argued for equal footing for Māori representation, stating, “For the Māori ward mechanism, its part it’s an and, and, and I think we can strengthen that by first removing the reinstatement of that five percent poll provision so it’s equal to all other forms of representation”.
Taupō District Council Māori ward councillor Wahine Murch echoed concerns over expanded council roles, emphasizing that her position does not involve truancy enforcement. “I didn’t sign up to be a truancy officer, I put my hands up to be an elected member. That’s what I am, and nowhere in my job description does it say truancy officer, you know, I’m not a professional in that field”.
Murch also noted the importance of collaboration through Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), stating, “Without LGNZ we’d probably still be trying to solve the same problem that all of us have across our district but over here by ourselves rather than communication in trying to work together”.
Additionally, commenting on structural changes, she noted, “I think most of us can agree that the simplification of local government has to happen, there are some overlapping functions that can be simplified but we needed to do it right”.
Rotorua Lakes Council Māori ward councillor Te Rika Temara-Benfell highlighted the growing visibility of Māori in local governance. “We’re in this position of continually growing our voice and our space as Māori and as Te Maruata in this space and I think we’re making our whānau, our Tangata Tiriti and councillors and councils across the country a bit more aware of the contribution that we can make as Māori councillors”.
Temara-Benfell also touched on the debate surrounding council involvement in attendance issues, stating, “For truancy we have to really understand, you know what’s our purpose, what’s our role as a council, Central Government’s I think and we heard one of the Act MP’s talk about councils needing to become new truancy officers and look at how we support truancy and I think actually councils have a huge role to play in our hāpori”.
Emphasising the need for ongoing backing, Temara-Benfell added, “I wanted to acknowledge our two co-chairs Dinnie and Aubs of Te Maruata who have represented our voice as well through this space, but I think there’s certainly more resourcing that needs to be considered in terms of how do we continue to reinforce support and grow that voice”.
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins also addressed the conference, arguing that Māori wards should not be singled out by policymakers. “We believe that the creation, disestablishment, reorganisation when it comes to Māori wards, matters for local councils and they should be able to treat those debates exactly the same as they do for the creation of a rural ward or the move from having wards to at large or from at large to having wards”.
Hipkins reiterated this stance by stating, “Māori wards shouldn’t be treated differently from any of those other discussions around how councils, you know, structure their governance”.
Stressing the broader relationship between local and central government, he added, “I think council’s first and foremost want to be treated with respect as a partner to central government. We’ve got to recognise that councils are elected by local communities they have a mandate to speak on behalf of those local communities before we should work in partnership with them”.