Common Grace Aotearoa is calling on Anglicans to be ready to advocate for Māori voices in local decision-making before this year's referenda on Māori wards.  On 11 October 2025, 43 local authorities across Aotearoa will hold referenda about whether to keep Māori wards in their council structures.

"As the Church was pivotal in shaping and imagining the Te Tiriti o Waitangi relationship, we have a unique role to play in this conversation about how our local government is structured going forward." said Alex Johnston from Common Grace Aotearoa leading up to their webinar on Māori wards this Thursday. 

Common Grace is asking Anglicans to wonder what our Christian faith has to say about a local council voting system so pegged to majority rights, that it happily silences the indigenous minority in their own land.

This Thursday 15 May in a lunch-hour webinar from 12.15pm, three speakers will explore how the Church can be a gracious and prophetic witness in referenda on indigenous rights, learning from the experience of Common Grace Australia with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian leaders during Australia’s 2023 referendum on whether to enshrine an indigenous Voice to Parliament in Australia’s Constitution. 

With Australia having no Treaty to guarantee indigenous rights, and coming from a painful history of draconian government policies towards Aboriginal peoples, "The Voice" referendum was a "once in a generation" opportunity for Australia to move forward on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice. But sadly, their referendum failed. 

Two Common Grace Australia leaders will share their perspective on reasons behind the Voice referendum's failure and offer insights into the misinformation and disinformation that fuelled many people's opposition to indigenous people getting a fair go. 
Webinar attenders will also hear the story of how Ngāmotu - New Plymouth's first Māori ward was established and hear from its first Māori ward Councillor, Te Waka McLeod.

Common Grace leader Safina Stewart, who is a proud Wuthathi and Mabuiag Island woman will join with National Director of Common Grace in Australia Gershon Nimbalker to share lessons locked in by Common Grace after they led churches to engage in the ‘Listen to the Heart’ campaign.

That campaign invited churches across Australia to listen deeply to the calls of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for justice, through Voice, together with Treaty and Truth-Telling.
Tangata whenua speaker Te Waka McLeod (Ngāti Mutunga, Te Atiawa, Te Ātihaunui a Papārangi) has been a member of the New Plymouth District Council since 2022 as the first-ever Māori ward councillor - Te Purutanga Mauri Pūmanawa Māori and works with people around the motu to activate transformation in iwi spaces and champion kaupapa Māori.

Te Waka will be sharing background on previous efforts to establish Māori Wards around the country, share the the value her ward has brought to Ngāmotu/New Plymouth, and how she views Māori wards in light of Te Tiriti and her Christian faith.

Alex Johnston from Common Grace Aotearoa says this is a chance for the Anglican Church to place itself on the right side of history. 

"As Anglicans we believe in honouring the Treaty as a sacred relationship between Tangata whenua and Tangata Tiriti. If we are working to live in that partnership, we know that the Treaty impacts everything that we do as a society – especially when we back systems that help us to live in partnership as equals."

"With these referendums coming up in October there will be a lot of of heat and fearmongering out there, being expressed by people with strong opinions. During The Voice referendum in Australia, there was a lot of noise that fed people's anxieties about being left out if indigenous people got a seat at the table. We can do better than falling for simplistic messages like that, which are designed to shift the conversation away from how we can thrive together and find strength in our differences." 

Alex reckons Christians need to to approach the issues on our terms, in prayer, and based on reliable information from people we trust.

"We also need to be thinking about this as an opportunity to look for reconciliation and to restore the relationships in the Treaty that the Anglican Church played a pivotal part in forming".

To join the Māori wards webinar

at 12.15pm Thursday afternoon 15 May

Register for the Māori wards webinar here.