Keith Melville

Race relations seem trapped in a time warp of guilt and grievance and Māori wards are not, in my view, the cure.

I acknowledge there is much in our collective Māori and Pakeha heritage that weighs heavily on our future but I do not believe, as a consequence of that, we should be giving an elevated importance to Māori votes over the votes of others.

That undermines fundamental Liberal-democratic values, won mainly in the political struggles of 19th century England of one-person-one-vote, and fair representation for all.

I raise all this because of the forthcoming referendum on Māori wards in the local government elections.

I know my views will not be popular, but I discuss them because I think there is a need for race relations to be open and to move on from the time warp in which they seem to be caught.

I also think there has been little debate on such a crucial issue. There has been some discussion from Māori candidates offering bland and uncritical support for Māori wards, but little has been said by Pakeha except for token and meaningless comments on the need for balance in councils.

In the meantime, Whakatāne District Council is haemorrhaging from costs and debt, and ratepayers face an affordability crisis.

To me, voting to retain the three Māori wards is effectively a vote to keep the council complex, cumbersome, feeble and costly. We deserve better than that.

In my second sentence when  talking about the issues arising from our collective past, I was referring to the raupatu (the land confiscations of the 19th century) and the brutality that went with it such as the killing and incarceration of Māori leaders, the dislocation of Māori communities, and later efforts to deny the beauty of the Māori language and culture - our culture, of which I know little but enough to know it is well worth preserving.

I was privileged as a journalist in the 1990s to be able to attend and report on Waitangi Tribunal proceedings, which gave me a vastly expanded knowledge of our shared history.

The raupatu has left an indelible imprint on New Zealand race relations, which is manifested to this day by guilt among many Pakeha, and continued grievance among Māori victims. The recent march on parliament by protestors, Māori and Pakeha, opposing David Seymour's Treaty principles bill, is testament to the strength of those feelings.

I have hope, however, that efforts by consecutive Governments and iwi since the mid-1970s when the Waitangi Tribunal was established, will eventually complete the healing process.

Having said that, I repeat I do not believe that changing the rules of democracy by providing Māori with a separate voice in local government through the Māori ward process, will help that healing.

In fact, I believe Māori wards will preserve attitudes that should otherwise be left to wither though not forgotten.

As I said before those attitudes include the guilt and whakama of many Pakeha, who seem happy to support Maori wards because it probably makes them feel better; and the grievances of Maori, who seem happy to accept the largesse and the mana that comes with separate seats on councils, but, apparently, not with the responsibility of representing everyone.

I know there will be many people out there who will say my views do not conform with the Treaty, nor with our political system nationally that provides for separate Maori representation in parliament

My response to that is a system that embraces Māori and Pakeha as equals  with responsibilities to each other is, broadly speaking, what the Treaty is about.

Furthermore, much has changed since the Treaty in 1840 and the land confiscations of the late 1860s. You will hardly find a Māori or a Pakeha family in the Eastern Bay that does not share cross-cultural bonds in one way or another.

Some years ago, during an earlier debate on Māori wards I looked into the racial background  of members of Whakatāne District Council.

I was surprised to learn that there were many councillors including some I viewed as typical Pakeha farmers who were in fact part Māori, Dave Wardlaw being one example. There was another councillor who conceded that he had Māori heritage on his mother's side but that his family had always kept that as a secret. There were also Māori councillors who were part Pakeha including Pouroto Ngaropo, an extremely well-spoken and influential proponent of Māori culture.

Some of the mixed heritage councillors of our recent past played influential roles for the benefit of everyone. I am thinking of the late Jean Eivers of Te Teko, and Doug Wright whose work with boys with troubled backgrounds was inspiring.

Most Whakatane people of my generation will remember the Māori businessman Ted Butt who represented Ōhope and was the highest polling councillor in his day in the 1990s.

In my view time and sincerity will improve race relations, Māori wards will prolong the pain.