I was reminded of this decision this morning when I read about an Arrowtown man who'd slept in his ute rather than drive home drunk. When he woke there was a sticker on the windscreen. He was fined for parking in a freedom camping area. He complained to council, explaining his drink-no drive decision and argued that as rate payer for 16 years, he couldn't be a freedom camper. His appeal was turned down because there was a blanket ruling and all people were treated equally. Once again, someone confused "same" with "equal". Sameness is not equality, and often leads to senseless and insensitive decisions, unfairness and inequality.
Read on.
-- ACW
Ngāi Tahu Representation Bill voted down
- WELLINGTON
- SOUTH ISLAND
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| pn339 |
Ngāi Tahu will not have permanent representation on Environment Canterbury Regional Council following the defeat of the Ngāi Tahu Representation Bill last night in Parliament.
MP for Te Tai Tonga, Rino Tirikatene, who took the bill to the house on behalf of the council, was disappointed that it was voted down before it got to the the first reading.
"This was a local bill. It's very rare for Parliament to vote down pieces of legislation which come from local authorities," he says.
The bill sought to keep Ngāi Tahu on the council permanently. The iwi has had two representatives on the council for around nine years, when the former National government replaced the previous council with appointed councillors.
The voting down of the bill means Ngāi Tahu will no longer have representation come October when the council returns to direct representation in local body elections.
Tirikatene says the nine years where Ngāi Tahu were at the table have "been hugely beneficial to that region, very beneficial to the iwi as well in promoting understanding of our cultural and of our world views."
NZ First effectively sunk the bill last night by voting against it, giving National enough votes to oppose a first reading.
NZ First MP Shane Jones says his party are opposed to any bills that provide special representation to iwi on local bodies, especially iwi with the resources and economic power to effect change without having legislative change.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson also expressed her party's disappointment today, saying in a statement “Local governments are willing and ready to take this step forward in giving Māori a guaranteed voice in their rohe. We’ve seen similar models being adopted by councils around the country and we saw it in Hastings last week.
"Ngāi Tahu having representation on Canterbury Regional Council is a good step towards embodying the Treaty partnership at a local level. Ngāi Tahu have a right to tino rangatiratanga as indigenous people in Aotearoa.”
Jones however says that there are already pieces of legislation that reflect Māori rights and the Treaty of Waitangi.
On Radio New Zealand this morning he described some councils as having "unreformed attitudes" that were affecting the relationships with mana whenua.
However Jones says those are issues for Māori to negotiate, not the government and providing Māori seats on local councils will not automatically solve the issues.
Tirikatene says that Ngāi Tahu won't stop here.
"Things will carry on, and I'm sure there will be other opportunities for increased Māori representation on councils being pursued in the future." -- Te Ao
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