Responding to the results of Tauranga's Te Awanui Māori Ward by-election, Tauranga-based ACT MP Cameron Luxton says:

"Here's another reason to ditch Māori council wards:

"In Tauranga's Māori ward by-election this week, less than 12% of eligible voters turned out. It means we have a new councillor elected with just 464 first-preference votes.

"For comparison, in general ward by elections, 22% turned out in Hamilton East last year, and 42% in Ashburton in 2023.

"When we have Māori ward councillors with full decision-making powers, elected by just a handful of voters, it makes a joke of local democracy. It means some people's votes are more powerful than others.

"In Tauranga the situation is especially absurd, because in addition to Māori ward councillors, we also have unelected mana whenua representatives on Council committees.

"Thankfully ACT has brought back referendums on Māori wards. But councils shouldn't be introducing them in the first place. Local issues of rates and roads can be addressed without dividing the community by race. In fact, the council could heed the message of this week's by-election turnout, and simply take the option we've given them to remove the race-based ward without even having to go through a referendum process.

"Outside of Tauranga, ACT is standing candidates in this year's local elections, and ACT councillors will fight for equal rights, democracy, and the principle of 'one person, one vote'. I just wish we had more of these values at the table in Tauranga."

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