Consultation on whether to establish Māori Constituencies for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council

The Council sought the views of the regional community on whether to establish Māori constituencies for voters on the Māori roll to elect councillors on to the Regional Council.

The purpose of the consultation is to inform a Regional Council decision in May 2021 about whether to establish Māori seats at the Regional Council table in time for the 2022 election.

Submissions closed on 22 April 2021.

Learn more about the consultation

Read the Consultation document

Hawke’s Bay’s population is over one quarter Māori and 6.8% of our region’s population speak Te Reo Māori. The Regional Council is required under the Local Government Act 2002 to provide for Māori participation in Council’s decision-making. Māori participation is currently provided for in a range of ways and whether to extend this to dedicated Maori constituencies is the subject of this consultation.

Have a question? Our in-depth Q&As are full of useful information.

Q&As can be found here

Māori constituencies would ensure Māori are guaranteed representation on the Regional Council – in addition to Council’s existing methods to engage with Māori.

Māori constituencies provide another avenue for issues of priority, concern or interest to Māori to be more directly brought to the Regional Council and can be expected to bring a distinct Māori perspective to the decision-making table.

Māori constituencies may encourage more Māori to participate in local elections by standing for office and voting.