Future of Tauranga’s Māori ward to be decided by binding referendum
Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale (left) and Hemi Rolleston at the Te Awanui ward councillor's swearing-in ceremony in 2025. Photo / Alisha Evans
Tauranga City Council has agreed to hold a binding referendum letting voters decide whether its Te Awanui Māori ward stays or goes.
The process is being complicated, however, by fast-accelerating local government reforms.
Tauranga is in a unique situation nationally.
Most councils with Māori wards held binding referendums to decide the wards’ futures at last year’s local government elections. Results were almost evenly split, nationally.
The polls were required by 2024 legislation introduced by the coalition Government, undoing a 2021 law change by the previous Government.
Tauranga had its local election early, in 2024, as part of its transition from commissioners back to an elected council, so it was exempt.
The legislation gave the council until the end of November this year to choose whether to disestablish the Māori ward for the 2028 election, or hold a binding poll by March 28 next year on whether to retain the ward.
In a meeting on Tuesday, the council voted almost unanimously to hold a poll by the required date.
It also agreed to run a campaign to increase civic consciousness and understanding about the ward and encourage participation, provided the poll would be “meaningful”.
Councillors also noted, however, that their preference was for the Government to change the requirement for a poll if the council is approved for the “head start” local government reform pathway.
Councils around the country have been given the option of proposing amalgamation plans within a 90-day deadline. The Government would choose which proposals to proceed with.
In a May 19 letter to the ministers leading the reform, Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale asked to defer Tauranga’s Māori ward decision.
He said a standalone poll would cost an estimated $600,000, and representation matters would likely be considered as part of the wider local government reforms.
“This approach would help avoid unnecessary cost and effort on a process that may become redundant under a revised local government structure.”
Resident Jan Gyenge objected to the letter in Tuesday’s council meeting, saying the legislation was clear and the council had not engaged with the community on the suggested change.
Drysdale said a poll done during a head start process “would mean nothing”.
Welcome Bay councillor Hautapu Baker asked what would happen if Tauranga voted to keep its Māori ward, then merged with a district that did the opposite.
This could arise in a merger with Tauranga’s only direct neighbour, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, which will remove its new Waka Kai Uru Māori ward from 2028.
Tauranga council head of strategy, governance and climate resilience, Jeremy Boase, said he did not have an answer but the Department of Internal Affairs was aware of the issue.
Matire Duncan - chairwoman of Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana Partnership, a group representing local hapū and iwi - addressed councillors in support of retaining the Māori ward.
She said it improved representation, gave Māori a voice, and supported Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The entire community benefited from having a fairer and more representative council.
Deciding to disestablish the ward could “damage” the council’s relationships with mana whenua.
Duncan asked the council to demonstrate leadership by supporting the ward and allowing the community to have the final say.
She said Te Rangapū recommended the education campaign, co-designed with tangata whenua, to explain the ward, correct misinformation and encourage participation in the civic process.
Baker said in his view the coalition Government was doing everything it could to “cripple” the voice of mana whenua.
“I welcome the challenge of a poll because I’m confident … Tauranga will vote on the right side of history."
Te Awanui ward councillor Hēmi Rolleston abstained from the council’s voting, but spoke in support of the ward.
He said a decision to support retaining it was “important and courageous”, and would put “a strong pou in the ground” to signal the council’s position.
He said Māori made up about 19% of Tauranga’s population, “and most of us don’t vote”.
Māori voter turnout was 30% in Tauranga’s 2024 election, compared to 40% for non-Māori, according to the election turnout report.
Rolleston said engagement in the 2025 Te Awanui ward byelection, where he was elected, was low.
Tauriko councillor Marten Rozeboom said he supported disestablishing the ward. He was the sole vote against holding a poll.
He said having a Māori ward had “always been optional”, including when the previous council voted to establish it in 2020.
He said the government of the day removed the right for Tauranga voters to have a say on having the ward, and he was concerned the city might again lose the right to choose.
Pāpāmoa councillor Steve Morris said there was a valid petition for a referendum on the ward decision in 2021, but the commission decided not to hold a poll after the law change.
“We owe our people a referendum, so let’s have a referendum,” Morris said.
Drysdale said it was strange a poll could decide only one type of ward, when wider representation arrangements were usually ultimately decided by the Local Government Commission - not a community vote.
The council is due to review its representation next year.
A council report said it was not clear how ongoing local government reforms would impact this.
Samantha Motion is the deputy editor for NZME Bay of Plenty and community titles. She has reported in the Bay of Plenty region for more than a decade.