About two months ago, the Mayor of New Plymouth was getting kudos from the Maori Party – and no doubt from lots of other Maori leaders – for acknowledging that our indigenous persons are special and should be given special treatment.
His council had just voted for a Maori ward by seven votes to six.
But he was getting plenty of stick, too, from folks who had the temerity to be miffed at the Mayor’s tinkering with their democratic structure (and doing it on the strength of a very close vote)..
One councillor – a true democrat – had the balls to oppose the move and resigned in protest.
The mayor, Andrew Judd, showed troubling signs of being confused about what he was up to.