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After biking almost a thousand kilometres encouraging people to ‘say yes to Māori wards’, a 15-year-old Whakatāne High School student pulled into Parliament’s forecourt with a wheelie.
Jack Karetai-Barrett left Whakatāne on 28 June aboard his Focus Atlas 6.7 gravel bike covering more than 894km to Wellington.
“If I could keep going I would, but school holidays finish soon and I won’t be able to get home in that time,” he said.
He was greeted outside Parliament by the Leader of the Opposition Chris Hipkins and Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau.
Karetai-Barrett passed a letter to Hipkins asking for it to be conveyed to the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Karetai-Barrett (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Rapuwai) said Māori wards have always been a part of his life. When he was very young his mother Mawera Karetai had been working towards implementing them in local government.
Back in 2020, he stood on the steps of Parliament as part of a group with a petition to abolish the referendum on Māori wards. The former Labour government passed that law in 2022.
“Fast forward a wee bit later, now Christopher Luxon and the current Government has decided ‘yeah nah we’re not having these Māori wards anymore,’ and I’m saying well ‘yeah we are’,” he said.
The Local Government (Māori Wards) Amendment Bill passed its third reading in July last year. Forty-two councils who had established a Māori ward without polling residents will now have to hold a binding poll alongside this year’s local body elections, or scrap the wards outright.
Karetai-Barrett said Māori wards should be part of everyday life. Even though he can’t vote in them yet, he encouraged other rangatahi, other young people, to make their voices heard.
“For anyone that can’t vote just remember that when you can that you are going to vet yes to Māori wards – nothing to say about it – and tell your parents too. There’s nothing that wrong with them it’s only plus sides not a single negative,” he said.
On the way down the island, people have welcomed Karetai-Barrett into their homes and prepared some “lovely kai”. Without them, he couldn’t have done it, he said.
“Even people I was staying with some of them were not even for Māori wards they just loved the fact that I was doing something like this,” he said.
Karetai-Barrett said the first day of his mammoth ride was the toughest along difficult forestry roads. Compared to that his crossing of the Remutaka Hill cycle trails on Tuesday was “pretty easy”.
Mawera Karetai said she has raised two principled boys – Jack and his older brother David – who stand up for what they believe in.
“When Jack said to me ‘Mum I just heard on the news that the Government has brought back the need for a referendum for our Māori wards, how is it that they’re even able to do that?’ He was so shocked and it really upset him,” she said.
The Government has overruled the right of communities to have their own choices, she said.
It’s not the first time Karetai-Barrett has embarked on a marathon campaign for Māori wards. Earlier this year, he walked almost 80 kilometres from Whakatāne to Mauao (Mt Maunganui), but he suffered severe blistering on his feet leaving him unable to finish the final 10km.
“Jack said to me ‘Mum I’m going to walk to Tauranga’ and I said ‘what for? We’ve got a car son and there’s busses’ and he said ‘no because it will raise awareness’,” Mawera said.
That tough journey was made tougher by racist messages directed at Karetai-Barrett online, she said.
“‘Someone run him over’ – These are these messages that my son was being exposed everyday,” she said.
“What even goes on in your brain that makes you think it’s ok to say that about a 15-year-old kid who is standing up for something he believes in.”
Mawera said that didn’t deter him and after biking home from Tauranga, he got the idea to ride all the way to Wellington. All he needed to do it was a new bike.
For his part Karetai-Barrett said he was proud of his mum for speaking to the crowd at Parliament as it’s not something she would usually do.
“I’m really proud of my mum too, I’m proud of everyone. I’m proud of people that say yes to Māori wards. I’m proud of people making change, I’m proud of the people my age who want to make a difference,” he said.
RNZ has approached the Minister for Local Government Simon Watts for comment.
