In the same week acclaimed filmmaker Taika Waititi labelled New Zealand a racist country, Deena Coster talks to former New Plymouth mayor and "recovering racist" Andrew Judd.

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Andrew Judd talks about Māori wards and the work he has been doing behind the scenes to make change.

Despite it spelling an end to his political career, championing the rights of Māori representation has become a former New Plymouth mayor's lifelong mission.

Since he decided not to seek re-election in 2016, Andrew Judd, who calls himself as a "recovering racist", has been working furiously behind the scenes to raise the nation's consciousness and influence the government to change a law he describes as "segregation by legislation".

After winning the mayoralty in 2013, Judd backed the creation of a Māori ward on the New Plymouth District Council. It was approved by council before being rejected by 83 per cent of New Plymouth voters in a binding poll.

Judd said as the law stands now, it treats the route to Māori representation differently to other wards councils may seek to establish, including rural or urban seats. It is only the Māori ward which can be subject to a public poll and Judd believed that was completely unjust.

It's a position which has garnered support from Local Government New Zealand.

READ MORE:

* New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd looks back on his three years as a 'recovering racist'

* Judd backing campaign for Māori wards in Manawatū and Palmerston North

* Petition to Parliament calling for a law change to establish Maori wards

In March, the organisation's president, Dave Cull, wrote to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Green Party co-leader James Shaw seeking the removal of amended sections of the Local Electoral Act 2001, which allows for polling of electors when a city, district or region seeks to establish Māori wards and constituencies.

There are currently five councils in New Zealand which have resolved to establish Māori wards in their districts: Kaikoura, Manawatū, Western Bay of Plenty, Whakatāne and Palmerston North, but each face a binding poll which could see this move reversed.

The fact it is only Māori wards which attract the poll provision was described by Cull as "discriminatory".

"Either the poll provisions should apply to all wards or they apply to none. The discriminatory nature of these polls is not acceptable," Cull wrote.

Judd echoed Cull's position and said the issue of Māori wards was not going to disappear as councils were required to undergo a representation review every six years.

There are two councils in New Zealand which have a Māori ward in place. Waikato Regional Council was the first to create one in 2012 and Wairoa District Council followed in 2016.

Judd said the MMP system in place for New Zealand's general elections came about to provide the country with improved representation, so he questioned why district councils did not readily embrace a model to better reflect their communities.

He said councils made decisions every day about land use and water, issues to which tangata whenua were deeply connected but over which their voice was not always guaranteed.

As part of his crusade for change, Judd has been in hot demand as a public speaker.

He's fielded international calls and has trips to Whakatāne and Invercargill planned in the coming weeks. Judd is also scheduled to speak to the Governance and Administration Committee at Parliament on May 16, regarding his petition seeking changes to the law.

It follows on from a TED talk he gave last year, called 'Lessons from a Recovering Racist" and a chapter he wrote for the 2017 edition of The Journal of Urgent Writing.

Judd said he felt the reaction he received to his support for Māori representation when he was mayor, including being abused on the street, had overshadowed the issue.

"It became more about the reaction to the question of representation than the question itself," he said.

Following his decision not to stand for re-election in local government, Judd was approached by The Opportunities Party, Māori Party and the Greens to join their political ranks but he turned them down.

He said he remained personally committed to the cause and delivering on a promise to help heal the divisions in the community.

"I haven't given up, I have just gone on in a different direction," he said.

"You don't have to be an elected person to be an active citizen."

SIMON O'CONNOR/STUFF Since stepping aside from local body politics, Andrew Judd has continued his crusade for a law change around Māori representation.