Simplifying Local Government

Overview

The Government has considered the impact of the proposal on Māori rights and interests. The proposal has been designed to not undermine, disrupt, or affect Treaty settlements but is seeking a wide range of views to ensure this is the case.

Under the proposal, CTBs will inherit all the roles, functions, and obligations that regional councils and councillors have now. This will explicitly include provision for carrying over Treaty settlements that place an obligation on a regional council.

Existing arrangements for Māori engagement and participation will continue, including:

• appointments to council committees
• participation in joint committees
• involvement in joint entities established under Treaty settlements, and
• membership of advisory groups.

Further, CTBs will be required to comply with all existing provisions of the Local Government Act 2002, for example:

• establishing and maintaining processes for Māori to contribute to decision making
• ensuring opportunities for consultation with Māori.

Māori Constituencies

Under the proposed model, regional constituencies of any kind, including Māori constituencies and general constituencies, would no longer exist. This is because regional councillors themselves would be replaced by the mayors in the region appointed as members on the CTB.

The change reflects a broader simplification of regional governance. The mayor of the city or district council would represent voters from the Māori and general rolls.

Local Acts relating to Māori representation

There are two regional councils with specific legislation for Māori representation:

• Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Māori Constituency Empowering) Act 2001. This Act requires the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to have Māori constituencies for the election of councillors.

• Canterbury Regional Council (Ngāi Tahu Representation) Act 2022. This Act allows Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to appoint up to two members to the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) with full voting rights.

Both local Acts were designed for a governance model that included elected regional councillors. Under the proposal, there are no regional councillors. The change reflects a broader simplification of regional governance. The mayor of the city or district council would represent voters from both the Māori and general rolls. Territorial authorities that make up the CTB would continue to be able to consider proposing specific Māori representation for their communities in the form of Māori wards at the city or district council level but there would no longer be regional constituencies.