Decide Together, Thrive Together.

Learn about the value of Māori wards from a faith perspective.

Equip and educate your faith community

Between 09 September and 11 October, 42 local authorities will hold referenda about whether to keep Māori wards, alongside their local body elections. As the Church was pivotal in shaping the Treaty relationship, Christians have a unique role to play in this conversation in each local government area.

Common Grace Aotearoa is equipping and educating faith communities with resources to have curious, gracious, and informed conversations —grounded in our faith and guided by the wisdom of Tangata Whenua.

Church leaders introduce Māori wards, their benefits, and an invitation to prayerfully consider your vote:

Educating and equipping your faith community to navigate Māori ward referendums

People gathered in a church lounge for a Common Grace workshop

Common Grace Aotearoa has created a set of resources to help churches understand Māori wards from a faith and justice perspective.

These can help your community learn, listen deeply to the perspectives of Tangata Whenua, and to a range of Church leaders, and to prayerfully consider their vote in the lead up to Māori ward referendums.

We invite you to plan a time between now and 09 September, when postal voting starts, to share these resources in your faith community, though the resources can still be useful right up until voting closes on October 11.

There are two key resources we are providing:

  • A 6 minute video (see above) from a range of Church leaders explaining the Māori ward referendums and what the benefits of Māori wards are. This can be played during a church service, and distributed in church newsletters.

  • A 2 hour workshop resource - 'Table Talk Conversations for Māori Wards in local government - A Christian Guide', a downloadable booklet with a mixture of short videos, discussion questions, interactive activities and prayer. This is an opportunity to go deeper in small facilitated groups and create an open space for people to learn, reflect, ask questions and engage with our hearts and heads about the upcoming Māori ward referendums. It features contributions from church leaders and theologians like Dr Alistair Reese, Jay Ruka, Sir David Moxon and Te Aroha Rountree, and the perspectives of Māori leaders in the movement for Māori wards.

Fill out the form below to receive the ‘Table Talk’ Resource for using in your church or with a small group.

Join us on this exciting learning opportunity to explore how Māori wards can make our communities stronger and live into the promise of the Te Tiriti relationship.

FAQs:

    • Table Talk conversations are a tried and tested, simple yet incredibly powerful way to engage in conversations about important issues.

    • It typically involves gathering a group of up to 10 people in small group discussion around a particular issue – in this instance the issue is whether to keep a Māori ward in you local government area.

    • During this conversation, a conversation host (that’s you!) would use provided materials to help guide a conversation around the upcoming referendum and invite guests to ask questions and have honest conversations. 

    • It can be held in a church, or in a home, and you could have multiple small groups and multiple hosts running the session together.

    • Table Talk conversations are a tried and tested, simple yet incredibly powerful way to engage in conversations about important issues.

    • We know that one of the ways people change their hearts or minds on an issue is through conversations they have with people with whom they know and trust.

    • An honest, respectful, and relaxed conversation with a trusted friend or family member is far more likely to transform opinions than information from a third party.

    • Creating an open space for people to reflect, ask questions and air their concerns will mean that we’re making this journey positive and unifying.

    • This is your chance to make a compelling case for why you are voting YES in the upcoming referendums, and why you think your friends, family or those in your faith community should do the same. 

  • As a Table Talk conversation host, you will:

    • Be equipped with materials to help you plan and gather your small group, set the scene for people, and lead the group through a constructive conversation. 

    • Bring together a small group of up to 10 people, for a purposeful and engaging conversation about the upcoming referendum and the importance of Māori wards

    • Lead a conversation that helps build empathy, connection, and unity. 

    You do not need to be an expert! Facts and statistics and technical details have their place in the wider public discussions, but a Table Talk conversation is about you sharing your views openly and authentically and inviting others to do the same. It is your passion and your generous and invitational posture that will help to transform hearts and minds. 

  • The Māori Ward referendums are an important decision in our nation’s story, and many are still discerning how they will vote. The Bible is not a rule book that gives direction on how we should vote. However, in the teachings and example of Jesus, we find principles and virtues that shape the way his followers engage with the world. 

    These principles include the primacy of love (Mark 12:28-31), the importance of pursuing justice, mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23), and the call to serve all those in need (Matthew 25:31-46). 

    Jesus reminds us that all people are image bearers of God, and therefore our obligations to one another transcend culture, geography and circumstance (Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 25:31-46). We hear as well that Jesus’ purpose was to see all people flourish – to experience the ‘fullness of life’ (John 10:10). 

    Amongst theologians and Christians, these principles are (gratefully) uncontroversial. Which means that, when we are talking about the referendum on Māori wards, we can turn our attention to discerning how these principles shape our vote and what other values we may also need to consider. 

    As you approach your Table Talk Conversations or showing the video during a service we encourage you to consider how the space you create, and the invitation you extend to those around your table, embodies the love, generosity, welcome and compassion extended to each of us by our Lord Jesus. 

    You aren’t telling people how to vote, but inviting them listen to deeply to the perspectives of Tangata Whenua, to have an open heart, and to prayerfully consider their vote in light of the information contained in the workshop or in the video.

  • The following areas are having a referendum on whether to keep Māori wards or constituencies at the 2025 elections:

    1. Central Hawke’s Bay District Council

    2. Far North District Council

    3. Gisborne District Council

    4. Hamilton City Council

    5. Hastings District Council

    6. Hauraki District Council

    7. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council

    8. Manawatū-Whanganui Regional Council (Horizons Regional Council)

    9. Horowhenua District Council

    10. Hutt City Council

    11. Kāpiti Coast District Council

    12. Kawerau District Council

    13. Manawatū District Council

    14. Masterton District Council

    15. New Plymouth District Council

    16. Marlborough District Council

    17. Matamata-Piako District Council

    18. Napier City Council

    19. Nelson City Council

    20. Northland Regional Council

    21. Ōtorohanga District Council

    22. Porirua City Council

    23. Palmerston North City Council

    24. Rangitikei District Council

    25. Rotorua District Council

    26. Ruapehu District Council

    27. South Taranaki District Council

    28. South Wairarapa District Council

    29. Stratford District Council

    30. Taranaki Regional Council

    31. Tararua District Council

    32. Tasman District Council

    33. Taupo District Council

    34. Thames-Coromandel District Council

    35. Waikato District Council

    36. Waipa District Council

    37. Wellington City Council

    38. Wellington Region (Greater Wellington Regional Council)

    39. Whakatāne District Council

    40. Whanganui District Council

    41. Whangārei District Council

    42. Western Bay of Plenty District Council

    Councils with Māori wards or constituencies that will have an electoral contest but are exempt from the poll provisions at the 2025 elections:

    1. Bay of Plenty Regional Council – Local legislation enables Māori constituency

    2. Ōpōtiki District Council – Previously met the poll provisions

    3. Waikato Regional Council – Previously met the poll provisions

    4. Wairoa District Council – Previously met the poll provisions

    Councils that have reversed their Māori ward decisions and will not have an electoral contest or poll for Māori wards in 2025:

    1. Kaipara District Council   

    2. Upper Hutt City Council 

    Council that has Māori representation by appointment of Māori to Council. It will not have an electoral contest or a poll for its Māori constituency:

    1. Canterbury Region (Environment Canterbury) – Local legislation enables Māori appointments 

  • You can view some of the videos used in the Table Talk guide in advance.

    This video showing the perspective of Church leaders and theologians on Māori wards, the Treaty and Christian faith.

    And this video showing the perspective of Māori leaders in the movement for Māori wards.

Other useful information:

  • If you want to learn more about Māori wards, there’s a range of information and further resources at maoriwards.nz.

  • For information on voting such as enrolment, voting dates, and locations, visit VoteLocal.co.nz.

Read Common Grace's position on Māori wards