Backflip Sees New Plymouth Grey Power Urge Voters To Keep Māori Wards

Thursday, 25 September 2025, 5:23 pm
Article: Craig Ashworth - Local Democracy Reporting

Grey Power’s New Plymouth association is strongly urging voters to keep Māori wards, despite ten years ago sparking a referendum that killed off the district’s first dedicated seat for Māori. 

Almost all Māori wards across the country face a being voted down in the current local body elections, as ordered by the Government. 

A decade ago Māori wards faced a binding referendum if five percent of voters signed a petition, and local Grey Power president Hugh Johnson organised New Plymouth's drive for signatures. 

The ward was voted down before it could become reality. 

Grey Power New Plymouth's new president Agnes Lehrke has reversed the organisation’s stance. 

“We strongly urge Māori wards are established because we need to be one people striving for the same goals in service of all.” 

“If we are to do our best for our district then we need our Māori peoples’ wisdom and contributing knowledge of the whole area of land, seas and mountain – as well as our people.” 

“The Māori people have that knowledge very well refined, so why wouldn't we ask them their advice?”

The previous Labour-led Government removed referendums on local Māori seats, saying they were unfair as polls didn’t apply to any other type of ward or constituency. 

Reintroducing the referendums last year, then-Minister for Local Government Simeon Brown said local representation was mostly organised by geography. 

“Māori wards are a departure from this, and we therefore think all communities ought to have a say on whether they are used.” 

All four Taranaki councils are opposed to running polls on their Māori seats. Lehrke said the 2015 petition was not agreed by all members and brought accusations of racism from Māori ward supporters. 

“Our association was coaxed into a very nasty situation… and we ended up being slammed,” she said.

“I hope we've grown up a bit in the meantime. I hope society has seen the light.” 

She said some current members might disagree with her call. “If people don't like it and leave Grey Power, so be it.” 

Former mayor Andrew Judd established the seat in 2015 with a one-vote majority. Forty-five per cent of electors voted in the petition-driven referendum with 4285 in favour and 21,000 against.

Subsequent backlash saw Judd step down at the following election, having suffered abuse in public including when out with his children. Judd said he was very excited to witness the change from Grey Power. 

“This is hugely significant from my perspective – not just locally, but nationally.” 

“To have the older generation stand in that space and say this is where we need to be, it's just amazing. It's fantastic. 

-LDR is local body reporting funded by RNZ and NZ on Air

© Scoop Media

Local Democracy Reporting

Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.