Get up, stand up! Stand up for your rights

te-pati-maori

Fri Jul 27 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Get up, stand up! Stand up for your rights

Friday, 27 July 2007, 5:03 pm
Press Release: The Maori Party

Te Ururoa Flavell, Local Government spokesperson for the Maori Party

Friday 27 July 2007

Local Government spokesperson for the Maori Party, Te Ururoa Flavell, was today encouraging Maori to ‘get up, stand up’ for local body elections.

Nominations for the 2007 local authority elections open today, Friday 27 July, and close on 24 August.

“I’m going to be spreading the message far and wide over this next month” said Mr Flavell. “Tangata whenua need to be at the decision-making table - whether it be on the local council, the regional council, the district health board, or any of the community board positions up for election. That means encouraging more Maori to enter the race".

“At the last local authority elections, only 7% of candidates elected were Maori, despite Maori being 14.6% of the national population” said Te Ururoa Flavell.

“The Maori Party commends the research from Massey University released yesterday which highlights issues and strategies for increasing Maori engagement with local government” said Flavell.

Local bodies are required under the Local Government Act 2002, to “foster Māori capacity to contribute to the decision-making processes of the local authority”.

“There are two key issues that come out of the Massey research” said Flavell. “The first is that the ‘representativeness and legitimacy of local government’ is at fault if it fails to engage Maori voters, especially rangatahi Maori”.

“The second is that tangata whenua were clearly wanting local authorities to be ‘connected, responsive and accountable to Maori communities'”.

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“We need to ensure that the distinctive voices of Maori are heard at the council table, so the Maori Party will be singing the NCPC rap to everyone we can get to listen” said Te Ururoa Flavell.

'Nominate – For Maori to be represented on local authorities, there needs to be Maori candidates;

Captivate – Local authorities need to identify new ways to engage and captivate the enthusiasm of Maori, particularly rangatahi, to get involved;.

Participate – New, diverse strategies are needed to encourage Maori to stand in the elections on 13 October;.

Collaborate – Local authorities need to place priority on collaboration and joint partnerships with iwi in order to enhance Maori representation'.

ENDS

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