The New Zealand government on Monday introduced the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill to reinstate local electorate polls on Māori wards and constituencies, despite the Waitangi Tribunal finding that the proposed legislation breaches the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi is one of the country’s founding constitution documents signed between Māori and the Crown.

The Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill restores the ability of the public to demand regional councils and territorial authorities to hold a binding local referendum on the establishment of Māori wards if petitioned by five percent of electors in the district.

In a report released on May 17, the Waitangi Tribunal recommended the government halt the legislative process to enable proper consultation with Māori. The tribunal wrote:

[T]he failure to consult Māori is a clear breach of the Treaty principle of partnership. We consider that this decision-making process is particularly egregious when it concerns measures that were introduced to remove previous discriminatory barriers to Māori political representation and to uphold the Treaty partnership at a local level.

Wards are defined electoral areas of a city or district within which electors can vote for candidates to represent them in local government. Under section 19Z of the Local Electoral Act 2001, councils and authorities are empowered to establish a ward in which electors of Māori descent may vote for candidates to ensure indigenous representation in local government.

Binding polls are a feature unique to the establishment of Māori wards; they do not apply to general wards which comprise the broader electoral population. Public-initiated polls have in numerous instances caused the dissolution of Māori wards, such as in 2018, where five councils had their decisions to establish Māori wards reversed only a year after votes in favor of their establishment.

Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of Aotearoa New Zealand and account for 17.3 percent of the country’s population. The introduction of the bill comes only a week after the New Zealand Court of Appeal overturned a decision blocking a summons order made by the Waitangi Tribunal concerning the government’s partial repeal of legislation that seeks to protect Māori children in care.

The bill is set to progress through the legislative process. However, it is unclear whether it will advance to the select committee stage, where public consultation will be sought.