Votes on Māori Wards, Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, and Te Pāti Māori's boycott of The Herald w/ Te Pāti Māori's Mariameno Kapa-Kingi

Local council’s in Aotearoa have been tasked with voting on the future of Māori wards from within their constituencies.

Of the council’s that have voted so far, Gisborne and New Plymouth have voted to keep theirs, however, Kaipara has voted to disestablish theirs.

For our weekly catch up, Joel spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, about what this means for democracy for Māori voters moving forward.

They also spoke to her about New Zealand’s largest iwi, Ngāpuhi, organising two hīkoi last week, over the government’s plans to reverse section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

They concluded our chat by speaking to her about Te Pāti Māori’s calls to boycott The Herald, following the newspaper’s decision to include a controversial advertisement by Hobson’s Pledge.