Māori Ward faces public referendum in 2025

Published on 10 September 2024

On Thursday 29 August, a crowd of around 250 people gathered to listen to councillors and speakers debate whether or not to disestablish its District-wide Māori Ward.

The debate followed a compulsory directive from Central Government. It gave Council two options to consider. These were to either disestablish their Māori wards before the 2025 elections, or to retain them and hold a referendum at the 2025 elections, during which the public would make the decision.

If Whangarei District Council had chosen to disestablish our Māori Ward, then the ward would not be in place at the 2025 elections.

At the meeting, Council decided to retain the Māori Ward and to hold a public referendum with the 2025 election. The effect of this will be that the current ward and councillors will remain in place until the 2025 referendum.

At the 2025 elections, Whangārei will still have a Māori Ward, with two Māori Ward councillors in place until at least 2028.

If the public opt to retain the Māori Ward, they will remain in place until at least the 2031 elections.

If the public opt to disestablish the ward, there will be no Māori Ward option in the elections in 2028 or 2031.

In 2027, there will be a District-wide representation review, where all wards (including the Māori Ward as voted on in the referendum) will be reviewed to ensure each one represents about the same number of people and appropriate communities.