Māori representation in local wards and in parliament: a readers' poll and an explainer

Elections in many local councils this year will be accompanied by referendums on Māori wards.

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In local government elections this year, many cities and districts (but not all) will hold referendums on whether to retain their Māori wards. This calls for a general explainer on Māori representation.

In the 2022 local government elections in Aotearoa there were thirty-five Māori wards and constituencies altogether. Local Government New Zealand explains: “Māori wards and constituencies sit alongside the general wards of each city or district. Similar to the Māori Parliamentary seats, Māori wards/constituencies are areas where only those on the Māori Parliamentary Electoral Roll can vote for the candidates in that ward/constituency.”

The populations in the general and Māori wards are roughly the same within each local authority, so the principle of “one person, one vote” is preserved locally. Representation ratios (residents per elected councillor) differ from one local territorial authority to another, however, so one vote packs more punch in Central Hawkes Bay than in Auckland, for instance.

The Auckland Council has no Māori wards. When it was formed in 2010 the Key government established instead the Independent Māori Statutory Board.

If you’re not sure whether your local council will hold one of these referendums, there’s a full list at this link. Some councils with Māori wards don’t need to hold a referendum if they’ve already done so and if a majority voted in favour.

Regardless of whether you’ll get to vote in one of the local referendums, or even if you’re not a New Zealander, have your say in this readers’ poll:

To vote in the Māori constituencies or wards (or for Māori seats in general elections), a person needs to be of Māori descent and to have chosen to register on the Māori electoral roll rather than the general roll. But all voters will get to vote in the local referendums on the Māori wards, in those places where they’re held.

The majority vote in these polls will decide the future of Māori wards/constituencies for each council. The present government wants communities to decide whether to have them, and has made the referendums compulsory in places where they’ve been implemented without one.

Those against Māori wards – and/or against the Māori electoral roll itself – generally cite the principle of equality of civil and political rights. They aren’t comfortable with an electoral law that differentiates based on any particular ancestry or ethnicity. There should be just one set of election rules for all, they say.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (article 1.4) allows, however, for “special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups”. The Māori parliamentary seats (since 1867) and local wards could be seen as special measures that address the effects of historical under-representation, and hence not “discrimination” in legal terms. And the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples goes further with a right to self-determination.

Another point in favour of retaining the Māori roll (and the Māori seats, wards and constituencies) is that a majority of Māori continue to opt into it. On the other hand, letting the non-Māori majority vote on whether the indigenous minority should retain its reserved representation is itself an injustice against that minority.

The Electoral Commission gives monthly updates on Māori enrolment figures. Of those registered voters who’ve indicated that they’re of Māori descent, 266,358 were on the general roll and 297,594 were on the Maori roll as at 1 July 2025. That’s about 52.8% of Māori who chose the Māori roll, which is consistent with figures going back to 1997. It was 52.4% in 2018, and went as high as 58% in 2006.

Furthermore, there are practical policy-making benefits in reserving indigenous representation in local and central government, in addition to representation through “mainstream” electoral means.

Being in Auckland, I won’t be asked to vote in a referendum on local Māori wards, as the Auckland Council doesn’t have them. Neither do I have an option to vote in the by-election for the Tāmaki Makaurau seat on 6 September.

While acknowledging the concerns about equality of rights (in the sense that “the same electoral rules should apply to all”), on balance I support the institution of local Māori wards as a valid exception or a “special measure”. Candidates in this year’s local government elections (and local MPs) should, I believe, state openly how they’ll vote in the referendum, where there is one. If they don’t declare it, then people can ask them where they stand. As it’s a private ballot, no one has to reveal how they’ll vote, but political transparency on this particular issue may be helpful when people are deciding for whom to vote.

Authentically free speech addresses the evidence and the principles at stake, rather than attacking people.

Historical timeline

1835: Article 3 of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand) provided for an annual assembly (rūnanga) to enact laws (wakarite ture).

1840: Article 2 of te Tiriti o Waitangi recognised te tino rangatiratanga, or the authority of indigenous chiefs.

1852: Section 71 of the New Zealand Constitution Act (UK) allowed for the creation of “districts” in which the “laws, customs, or usages” of the indigenous peoples could be observed and maintained, “so far as they are not repugnant to the general principles of humanity”.

1867: The Māori Representation Act created four Māori constituencies. This under-represented Māori in proportional terms, but ironically the first Māori MPs were also the first MPs who’d actually been born in Aotearoa. One reason for introducing these seats was that Māori were paying taxes (“no taxation without representation”) and few Māori met the European property qualification for the franchise, as it was based on individual title.

1872: Two Māori members appointed to the Legislative Council (former upper house).

1876: Māori seats extended indefinitely. They were initially intended to be temporary.

1892: Kotahitanga Parliament at Heretaunga sought to make law for Māori, including lands, fisheries, etc. Kauhanganui assembled by King Tawhiao at Maungakawa

1975: Māori permitted to choose either Māori or General roll after each Census, and to stand for election in either. (The Māori option can now be exercised at any time other than within 3 months of an election.)

1986: Royal Commission on the Electoral System described MMP as “the best means of providing Māori representation”. It concluded that, if MMP were adopted, there should be one common roll.

1996: The MMP electoral system raised the number of Māori seats from four to five, then to six in 1999, and seven in 2002.

2001: Local Electoral Act 2001 provided for local bodies to create Māori wards. (This and the following historical points are taken from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.)

2004: Bay of Plenty Regional Council introduced Māori seats elected by voters on the Māori electoral roll.

2013: Waikato Regional Council introduced two Māori wards. In other cases, opponents used provisions of the Local Electoral Act 2001 to trigger binding referendums which overturned the councils’ plans for Māori wards.

2016: Wairoa District Council held a referendum.

2019: Wairoa voters elected three general ward and three Māori ward councillors. Because Wairoa’s Māori wards were approved by referendum, it (and three others) won’t be holding one in 2025.

2021: An amendment to the law abolished local voters’ ability to overturn a council’s decision to establish a Māori ward.

2024: A counter-amendment to the law said councils must hold referendums before establishing Māori wards. Councils that had introduced Māori wards without previously holding a referendum were required to hold one at the 2025 election, if they wanted to retain them.

Source URL: https://www.votelocal.co.nz/maori-wards-and-constituencies/