Four chase Māori seat

The second election for a Māori ward member on the Waipā District Council will be at least a four-way race.

As this edition went to press Barney Manaia, Gaylene Roberts, Dale-Maree Morgan and Bill Harris had put their pōtae – and $200 – into the ring.

Nominations close at noon today – Thursday – and voting papers will be posted to people on the Māori electoral roll on June 1.

Voting will run to June 23.

The seat available was vacated in mid-March by Takena Stirling moments after The News learned he had been suspended by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal of the New Zealand Law Society.

Mayor Susan O’Regan subsequently announced the appointment of mana whenua representatives on four council committee had been put on hold until after the election.

Stirling was a clear winner in the elections last October, getting 309 votes and beating Gaylene Roberts and Bill Harris.

Voting numbers around the country were uninspiring, though Waipā’s total turnout was on a par with three years earlier – but the turnout for the Māori was, 566, was well shy of the numbers who voted in any of the other wards.

That’s likely to encourage the four candidates to look for more voters this time.

All four candidates have extensive links to Waipā and Māori organisations.

Barney Manaia has a strong background in the NZEI and Combined Trade Union, the Apakura runanga and Maniapoto Trust Board, while environmentalist Dale Morgan has been a spokesperson for Don’t Burn Waipā – a group formed to oppose a resource consent for a rubbish-burning energy plant in Te Awamutu.