The Chief Executive of Auckland Council has received the resignation of Local Board elect member Valmaine Toki.
Dr Toki had been elected to the Aotea/Great Barrier local board in the local election earlier this month, but has more recently received the news that she is in the running to be appointed to the Independent Māori Statutory Board. The legislation prohibits a member of the Independent Māori Statutory Board from being a current elected local board member.
Dr Toki is of Ngāti Rehua, Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi descent. She is the first New Zealander appointed to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues where she served two 3-year terms and more recently the first New Zealander appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Under the Local Electoral Act, a by-election must be run if a local elected member position becomes vacant, unless it is within one year of the next election. This is true even if it is so close to an election that a member has not yet been sworn in.
Candidate nominations for the by-election will open on Thursday 24 November, and close midday Thursday 22 December 2022.
The voting period will be from Thursday 26 January to noon Friday 17 February 2023.
“We are working to the earliest possible date in accordance with the Local Electoral Act,” says Rose Leonard, Manager of Governance Services at the council.
“We encourage locals to get involved with the same commitment they showed during the recent local elections where Aotea / Great Barrier had a great voter turnout with 56.6 per cent of eligible voters having their say.”
