The Palmerston North City Council voted this morning on the future of our Māori ward - and voted unanimously to retain it, and have a referendum at the 2025 local body election. They also voted to investigate the option of not having a referendum - that is, directly challenging the government.
This is a provincial council. Its mayor is a Nat. There are open Nats on the council. All of them spoke against the government's agenda, in quite strong terms. And all of them voted for the final motion. It seems that National's programme of enforced, top-down racism isn't even popular with their own party.
