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Nelson vote against Maori ward

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Nelson vote against Maori ward

3News NZ

Nelson is the only council in the country to have a dedicated Maori representative role on its executive

Nelson is the only council in the country to have a dedicated Maori representative role on its executive

Residents have rejected a Nelson City Council bid to create a separate Maori ward.

Preliminary results at midday on Saturday showed nearly 80 percent of the 15,387 - a 43 percent return - votes were against the plan.

Just over 3000 people, or 20 percent, voted in favour.

Nelson Mayor Aldo Miccio is not surprised by the result.

"Council put the proposal out there to establish a Maori ward, however it's clear our community is not yet ready to take that step," he said in a statement.

"This proposal was about giving fair representation to Maori around the council table in a simple, cost-effective way. Going forward, we will continue to engage with Maori using existing mechanisms in place."

The creation of a Maori ward would mean one seat at the Nelson City Council table would be mandated to represent Maori.

Nelson is the only council in the country to have a dedicated Maori representative role on its executive. It also has a Maori forum, Kotahitangi Hui.

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Comments

20/05/2012 9:45:52 a.m.

spud wrote:

could and when will mr banks step aside or please resing

20/05/2012 8:44:37 a.m.

Bruce wrote:

@John. Democracy is not racist..Fundamentally, Democracy is, Majority Rule, Minority rights. Meaning: The majority rules and all minority groups share the exact same rights as everyone else. Maori represent about 10% of New Zealands population. Allowing maori a Ward seat is actually Undemocratic, because they are a minority group. Favouring one minority group over another is undemocratic.

20/05/2012 8:35:21 a.m.

John Davison wrote:

Time you got your head out of the sand Dave. Or is it concreted in, like the rest of your ilk?.

19/05/2012 11:53:18 p.m.

The dr wrote:

Wake up we are all sick of having this shaved up or ass do we have a sarmoen word no we dont and ther are far more of them but thay not as rasest and dont wont or need to be over representend so sick of PC crap in nz

19/05/2012 7:13:07 p.m.

Dave wrote:

No, John it's not racism at all, it's democracy! As soon as something goes against maori, weak people like you play the race card and brand everyone racist. If there is racism then it's caused by people like you.

19/05/2012 6:21:15 p.m.

jabba wrote:

Residents have rejected a Nelson City Council bid to create a separate Maori ward. Preliminary results at midday on Saturday showed nearly 80 percent of the 15,387 - a 43 percent return - votes were against the plan. I suggest the people of Nelson go back and check the vote in the H debate in Wanganui .. it was about 85% against but ignored

19/05/2012 6:09:15 p.m.

Shen Richmond wrote:

Why not have a moari ward, isn't that the same as having a china town? keeping the culture alive is what its all about. why can't non-maori see that

19/05/2012 3:14:29 p.m.

John Davison wrote:

Hardly surprising that 80 per cent of Nelson voters were against this.

It is racism pure and simple.

The frightening thing is that the council were not even obliged to consult the community! Only in New Zealand...