{"id":73332,"date":"2025-10-12T06:13:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T06:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73332\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T06:13:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T06:13:08","slug":"western-bay-local-election-maori-ward-councillor-disappointed-by-poll-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73332\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Bay local election: M\u0101ori ward councillor disappointed by poll result"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019ve only really got three years to ensure that our voices are heard for the benefit of all of our communities, iwi and hap\u016b as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The poll result and voter turnout<\/a> was something to learn from, Dinsdale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we didn\u2019t do very well in terms of actually educating our people [about] the importance of the M\u0101ori ward.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was \u201creally overwhelming\u201d that so many people didn\u2019t get out there and vote, Dinsdale said.<\/p>\n

Progress results showed 7080 people voted to remove the M\u0101ori ward \u2013 about 2000 more votes than those wanting to keep it.<\/p>\n

Overall voter turnout for the Western Bay<\/a> was 33.98%, including 29.77% in the M\u0101ori ward as of 6.50pm on Saturday.<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori wards weren\u2019t new but recent legislation and the referendum \u201ccreated differing opinions within our communities\u201d, Dinsdale said.<\/p>\n

It was hard knowing the seat wouldn\u2019t exist in three years\u2019 time, but Dinsdale would \u201cadvocate strongly\u201d for her ward.<\/p>\n

The \u201cchallenge\u201d was the ward covered the entire district<\/a>, but she planned to speak to the different communities and be their connection to the council.<\/p>\n

Dinsdale lives in Te Puke and is a consultant and researcher. She is a member of the council\u2019s combined T\u0101ngata Whenua Forum and the Western Bay iwi representative for SmartGrowth.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer. Photo \/ David Hall<\/p>\n

Mayor James Denyer, who was re-elected to serve his second term, said Dinsdale was in a \u201ctough position\u201d only having the seat for three years.<\/p>\n

It was a \u201ckey concern\u201d for him when the council was \u201cforced\u201d to vote on whether to keep the ward or face a binding poll<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard loud and clear from tangata whenua … even knowing that risk, they still wanted to have that M\u0101ori ward to show what it can achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September last year, the council reaffirmed its decision to keep the ward.<\/p>\n

The Government directed councils to rescind M\u0101ori wards established after 2021 or hold a binding referendum on them at this year\u2019s local body elections.<\/p>\n

The poll showed the value of testing the community\u2019s views over time, Denyer said.<\/p>\n

In the 2018 poll, 78% of voters were against establishing a M\u0101ori ward. For the 2025 poll, nearly 60% wanted to remove it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely worth asking the question and [the] community has spoken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KaimaiKaimai Ward councillor Margaret Murray-Benge. Photo \/ John Borren<\/p>\n

Re-elected councillor Margaret Murray-Benge has been vocal in her opposition to M\u0101ori wards.<\/p>\n

She voted against the ward in both council decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy view that it\u2019s undemocratic to go down separate paths,\u201d she told Local Democracy Reporting after her election win.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have been very worried about the separatism that\u2019s coming in this country, so the vote does not surprise me at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other districts that voted to remove their M\u0101ori wards include Taup\u014d, Thames, Hauraki, Matamata-Piako and \u014ctorohanga.<\/p>\n

Hamilton, Rotorua, Kawerau and Whakat\u0101ne voted to keep their wards. <\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019ve only really got three years to ensure that our voices are heard for the benefit of all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1561,3595,38290,45212,5903,440,2720,111,43,139,69,13027,12229,19791,3457],"class_list":{"0":"post-73332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-bay","9":"tag-by","10":"tag-councillor","11":"tag-disappointed","12":"tag-election","13":"tag-local","14":"tag-mori","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-poll","20":"tag-result","21":"tag-ward","22":"tag-western"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}