Māori participation in Manawatū District Council 'shunned',

Māori participation in Manawatū District Council ‘shunned’, say church leaders

Thursday, May 20th, 2021

Church leaders are calling on Manawatū District councillors to reconsider their “divisive” stance on Māori wards.

Leaders from several of Feilding’s churches have signed an open letter that was sent to all councillors on May 17. It called on them to vote in favour of Māori wards at a meeting on Thursday, introducing a Māori ward in time for the 2022 local body elections.

“Our prayer for you as elected members is that you have courage in your decision-making this week,” it read.

The letter referred to the council’s increased use of te reo and involvement of iwi representatives in recent years as examples of how progressive the council had become. But those efforts now appeared insincere with Māori wards being “shunned”. Read more

Related Posts:

Additional reading

News category: New Zealand, News Shorts.

Tags: Manawatū District Council, Māori wards

Analysis and Comment
- Fifth Gospel Living – book review
  
  Simple, sweet, sometimes heart-breaking, and always invigorating, Fifth Gospel Living is the latest publication from Fr John O’Connor and his Food for Faith ministry. It comprises stories of personal encounters with God. The 96 reflections are the result of a Read more
- Treaty of Waitangi should be considered as a covenant relationship
  
  A hīkoi opposing the Treaty Principles Bill has made its way to Wellington. Those who took part in the hīkoi, along with supporters around the country, both Māori and non-Māori, consider the Bill to be a betrayal of the commitments Read more
- There is reliable evidence social media harms young people – debates about it are a misdirection
  
  The Australian government is developing legislation that will ban children under 16 from social media. There has been a huge public debate about whether there is sufficient direct evidence of harm to introduce this regulation. The players in this debate Read more
- Christianity stands on threshold of new Reformation
  
  Keynote speaker Tomáš Halík (pictured) a leading Catholic intellectual and author from the Czech Republic, says Churches must transcend national, religious, cultural boundaries A new reformation for the 21st century must transcend “the current forms and boundaries of Christianity,” resist Read more

Search CathNews

Search for:
CathNews
is free

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:
Great Reads