Helen Clark’s Labour Government introduced petition rights for Maori wards as a democratic safeguard to protect voters from councils wanting to manipulate constitutional arrangements without a mandate from their community.

When Maori wards were introduced into the Local Electoral Act by Helen Clark in 2001 (a Maori MP from the Bay of Plenty persuaded Helen Clark’s Government to pass a special local law to set up Maori seats on that Regional Council. The Party then decided to change the Local Electoral Act to enable them to be set up all around the country) because it involved changing the voting system to include the Maori roll, the same constitutional safeguards were applied that already existed in sections 27 to 34 of the Act to protect electors if councils decided to change the voting system between First Past the Post (FPP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV) without public consultation.

As a result, the Maori ward petition rights, which are found in sections 19ZA to 19ZH of the Local Electoral Act, mirror those in sections 27 to 34, enabling electors to challenge a council’s decision through a district-wide referendum – if they gain the support of 5 percent of voters in a petition. The result would then be binding on the council for the next two elections.

That means Helen Clark’s ‘direct democracy’ veto only applies in situations where councils change the voting system without community consultation – namely, by either switching between FPP voting and STV, or by introducing the Maori roll and Maori wards.

If councils decide to change ward boundaries, introduce, split or amalgamate wards, or remove wards entirely to have councillors elected ‘at large’, the voting system would not be changed, so petition rights would not apply.

The point is that in a democracy, it is deemed to be unconstitutional for governing bodies to change the voting system without consulting the public. That’s why Helen Clark introduced the petition right safeguard – to protect our democratic rights. That’s what the Minister and Maori sovereignty activists now want to take away.

Courtesy NZCPR