Far North Mayor Moko Tepania says council ‘unfairly targeted’

Source: Radio New Zealand

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has defended having unelected iwi representatives on the council’s Māori liaison committee – and says the Far North is being unfairly targeted because it’s just one of 57 councils around the country with similar arrangements.

The committee’s membership has been thrust into the national spotlight after former TV journalist Duncan Garner interviewed councillor Davina Smolders on his podcast last week.

In the podcast Garner claimed a council committee had 15 unelected iwi representatives to six elected councillors, which he believed was “illegal”, “undemocratic”, and “co-governance on steroids”.

The committee Garner and Smolders were referring to was the Te Kuaka Māori Strategic Relationships Committee.

The committee’s makeup will be decided at a council meeting on Wednesday morning but alongside the six councillors it is proposed to have two members from Northland’s iwi chairs forum, and one from each of the eight hapū or iwi with which the council has a Memorandum of Understanding, making a total of 10 appointed members.

Council documents show the six other council committees have at most two unelected external members, and some have none.

Tepania said the furore took him by surprise, given that Te Kuaka’s membership had yet to be confirmed, and because Māori liaison committees were nothing new.

He said the appointed members would have voting rights on the committee, but the committee could only give advice with the full council making any final decisions.

“I mean, we’re not alone in having a mechanism like this to incorporate Māori into our decision-making … We’re one of 57 councils that have a committee like this. Our cousins in Whangārei and Northland Regional Council have strategic relationship committees as well,” Tepania said.

“So it’s definitely not something new, or something that we alone are trying to push forward. It’s a mechanism that allows us to meet our statutory obligations under the Local Government Act, which is to ensure that we include Māori participation in our decision-making. And that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

He said some committees – such as Te Koukou Transport and Infrastructure Committee – did have delegated powers to make decisions and sign off contracts up to a certain value, but not Te Kuaka Māori Strategic Relationships Committee.

Tepania rejected claims the committee was illegal or undemocratic.

“This is what’s really unfortunate, because when opinion is stated as fact, it gets people up in arms. Is the Far North District council breaking the law? Actually, it’s not. The Local Government Act allows for any council to establish committees and to have non-elected members on those committees. The only requirement is that they have at least one elected member.”

Local Government New Zealand confirmed to RNZ the approach taken by the Far North District Council to its committees was allowed under the Local Government Act 2002.

Tepania said it was “disheartening” the controversy erupted while the council was dealing with the aftermath of the March storm and preparing for Cyclone Vaianu.

“It does feel like we’ve been unfairly targeted out of the councils in this country that are doing the same and it does honestly feel like race baiting. It’s very hōhā (annoying) and we’ve got too much mahi to do for all of the people of the Far North to have to put time and energy into this.”

Tepania was, however, concerned by Smolder’s statement that she felt “threatened, bullied and intimidated”, including at the council table.

All members had to abide by a code of conduct – which included how they behaved towards each other – and if any councillor believed that had been breached, he urged them to make use of the processes in place “to keep everyone safe”.

Tepania said the upcoming general election was a good chance for the Far North to make itself heard by central government, but it could also ramp up divisions and he expected to see a lot more opinions presented as fact.

He urged people to “do their homework” and seek information from “reputable sources”.

Meanwhile, Tepania said he apologised to Garner, and the people of the Far North, for responding to an interview request with a two-word email stating “f*** off”.

It wasn’t the kind of response people expected from their mayor, or that he expected from others in his position.

“If circumstances were different I wouldn’t have reacted in that way. It was just the initial reaction to something that was blowing up, causing me concern, and at the end of the day, I guess we’re all human,” Tepania said.

Davina Smolders rejected Tepania’s characterisation of the podcast as misinformation.

She conceded Garner was incorrect when he claimed having appointees on a council committee was illegal, but maintained – and said she had been advised by her lawyer – that it went against the intent of the law.

She said the Te Kuaka committee already had four Māori Ward councillors, so the extra hapū and iwi appointees were an unnecessary double-up.

If the podcast failed to mention that the committee in question was the Māori liaison committee, that context had likely been lost in the editing process when the 48-minute interview had been cut down to 30.

Smolders said she had made 13 complaints to police about threats against her, but none related to incidents in the council chambers.

Eleven related to threats made via social media.

She said police had been “incredibly proactive and reassuring”, in one case even identifying a Facebook user who went by a false name.

Smolders said she expected some of her supporters to attend Wednesday morning’s meeting, as well as supporters of the council’s current direction.

“I respect the democratic right of Ngāpuhi, and all citizens, to peacefully protest and make their voices heard,” she said.

“This is a direct result of the fundamental breakdown in trust and effective governance at the Far North District Council. We can’t continue with the status quo. The cracks in this council’s democratic foundation are now on public display, and I’m once again urging Local Government Minister Simon Watts to step in and appoint a Crown observer.”

However, Minister Watts confirmed to RNZ he would not be appointing an observer to the Far North District Council.

He said he was aware of concerns about tensions within the council.

“The local council and its members are locally elected, it’s not for Wellington to go intervene every time they do something I don’t personally agree with. Given the high statutory threshold required for such powers, I am advised that the council’s current actions do not constitute formal ministerial intervention at this time,” he said.

“I have, however, asked officials to engage with the council and report back to me if they identify any concerns or issues that warrant further investigation.”

Watts’ office confirmed the council was not being investigated, despite news reports to that effect.

The Minister’s letter to the council stated he was “satisfied that the council is conducting its governance appropriately and any disagreements between council members can be managed through its governance processes”.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand