Mayoral candidates in our largest cities remain divided on the issue of Māori wards.

Thirty-seven local councils and five regional councils will need to hold referendums on Māori wards in the upcoming next month's local elections, including Wellington City Council.

Wellington mayoral candidate Andrew Little wants to see his council’s ward retained.  

“The rationale for Māori wards is to ensure there is a Māori voice at the council table that is directly accountable back to Māori voters,” he said.  

Little said increasing the diversity of voices on the Council also helps it make better decisions.  

He said there was already precedent for this.  

“An obvious comparison is rural wards, which exist in some councils to ensure that rural communities always have a voice at the table."  

Diane Culvert said they would honour what voters wanted.  

“Voters are already informed here in Wellington, and I will respect whatever Wellingtonians choose,” she said.  

Ray Chung said he was more focused on other matters, like controlling the council’s spending.  

“If Wellingtonians support a Māori ward, we’ll back it. If they don’t, we’ll respect that. We believe in listening to the people," he said.

Auckland Council and Christchurch City Council won't be holding referendums, as they don't have Māori wards.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown — who abstained a 2023 vote, in which councillors vote 11 to 9 against establishing Māori wards — said a solution for Māori representation has yet to be found. 

“A joint Governance Working Party is working on options and will present these back to the council’s Governing Body in due course,” he said. 

Mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni said she supported Māori wards as a way to better honour commitments made to tangata whenua under the Treaty of Waitangi.  

“It is important to get a variety of voices around the decision-making table.”  

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said the council previously consulted iwi, and they were comfortable with the current council-iwi relationship.  

“They did not feel it was appropriate for a Māori ward to be established in Christchurch.”  

Another mayoral candidate — councillor Sara Templeton — said she agreed.

“Here in Christchurch, conversations with mana whenua in recent years have indicated that they do not want to pursue a Māori ward for our city.

"It's not something that we have done, although I'd be open to it if that view changed.”  

Templeton said ultimately, any future decision about Māori wards should lie with the councillors.