Whanganui District Council votes support for Ukraine
Published on 23 March 2022
District councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday 22 March to support a motion to condemn the Russian government and stand by the people of Ukraine in the current conflict.
The motion, brought to the council table by Cr Alan Taylor stated:
That Council forthrightly condemns the actions of the Russian Government in invading Ukraine, and stands by the people of Ukraine in their continued struggle for peace, independence, and democracy.
Cr Taylor said, “The council must make a statement on this international matter. We’re not remote from this war. It’s already impacting on every one of us – economically, and many people psychologically, in our district.
“Every Whanganui resident, I feel, over the age of about five, will remember this war for the rest of their lives. It’ll be there for that length of time. And each of those people have a thousand Ukrainian counterparts, many of whom now have no home, and worse still, no family or no hope of reuniting with family who they may be estranged from if they’re refugees.”
He says the government, through the prime minister and other representatives, has expressed our horror and abhorrence of what’s happened in the Republic of Ukraine.
“We should voice our support, along with our government, and everyone else in the free world.”
He said the Russian government “would do very well to consider the very pertinent words of their great author Leo Tolstoy – In all history, there is no war which was not hatched by the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people to whom war is always pernicious, even when successful.”
Mayor Hamish spoke of mayors of Ukraine who had been shot, abducted or were rumoured to be sought by hit squads in the war. “Sadly some local government figures have been targeted by the invading Russian forces.”
He said, “We’re all part of this 2000-year-old local government system of democratic representation which aims to give the people of towns, villages and cities a voice and gives us the responsibility to make decisions – and we can only imagine what it would be like to be decision-makers in a town where an invading army is coming and targeting elected officials.”
In closing the meeting he said, “This was the very first motion we passed today, in what was a big day for the council. I’m incredibly proud that it received unanimous support.”
ENDS