Auckland’s mayor has hit out at a New Zealand First election campaign promise to scrap the city’s Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB), shrugging it off as “dumb, racist stuff”.

The party has penned and introduced a bill seeking to disestablish the board, stating that the unelected council body “exercised significant influence” over council decision making and set up a “a parallel governance system”.

In a statement to RNZ, Mayor Wayne Brown said he did not know why the government was “picking a fight”.

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“It’s just dumb, racist stuff we don’t need at a time when people are struggling to put food on the table and pay bills. What’s the problem they’re trying to solve?” Brown said.

The IMSB was established in 2010 alongside the creation of the Auckland Super City and was set up to make decisions to promote economic, cultural, environmental and social issues that are significant to Māori in the living in the city, as well as making sure Auckland Council meets its obligation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

It is independent of the council and has nine members elected by a selection group made of mana whenua representatives. It can appoint up to two members to Auckland Council committees making decisions on management and stewardship of natural and physical resources.

Members appointed by the board have voting rights on those committees.

Brown said the council had “several committees and advisory forums that enable robust discussions and the sharing of a range of views”.

“I would’ve thought this contributes rather than takes away from our democracy.

“My suggestion to Wellington is butt out of our business. Auckland is quite capable of making decisions that work best for us,” Brown said.

The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is welcoming the members bill, with spokesperson Josh Van Veen saying the board wields “considerable power”.

“We have previously called for the government to strip the IMSB of voting rights on council committees. But the time has come to get rid of the IMSB altogether.

“Auckland Council should be governed by representatives who are elected by, and accountable to, Aucklanders. There is no place in local government for a body with special statutory privileges that ratepayers have no ability to vote for or remove.”

Van Veen said local democracy works best when governors are directly answerable to the public.

“The Independent Māori Statutory Board was established as a temporary political compromise during the formation of the Auckland Super City. More than 15 years later, it has become an entrenched layer of bureaucracy that undermines democratic accountability,” he said.

RNZ understands the IMSB is meeting to discuss the proposed bill.

RNZ has asked the IMSB for comment.