Whangarei has a new mayor and six
new faces around the council table. In a close race for the mayoralty, two-term
councillor Ken Couper beat the incumbent Vince Cocurullo by 435 votes.
In the Urban Ward, Marie Olsen topped the voting and is joined by newcomer Brad Flower, re-elected councillors Nic Connop and Paul Yovich, and Crichton Christie, who is returning as a councillor after a six-year absence. Carol Peters lost her seat, as did Jayne Golightly.
Scott McKenzie was re-elected in
the Hikurangi-Coastal ward alongside newcomer Stephen 'Tractor' Martin, who is
following in the footsteps of his father, Greg Martin, the ward’s
representative from 2004 to 2022. Stephen
Martin replaces Gavin Benney, who did not seek re-election. Scott McKenzie has
been named deputy mayor, in what some are describing as a pre-election
arrangement with the left-leaning group associated with former mayor Sheryl
Mai.
Simon Reid has been re-elected in
the Mangakahia-Maungatapere ward, but appears to be out of favour with Mayor
Couper, who has given his chairmanship of the all-important Works and Services Committee
to newcomer Brad Flower.
Bream Bay has two new
councillors. Matt Yovich topped the poll, and Dave Baldwin took the second
seat. These positions had been held by Ken Couper and Phil Halse, who retired
after 33 years in the job.
Tangiwai Baker has been elected
in Whangarei Heads to take the seat vacated by Patrick Holmes.
Both Maori ward councillors were
re-elected, although their seats will be disestablished after the 2028 election
following the REMOVE result in the referendum. Despite this, Mayor Couper has
given both Deb Harding and Phoenix Ruka chairmanships, in a move that will strengthen
their influence within the council.
Predictions that the election
would be a battle between a woke faction that sees the council as a social
welfare agency and those who want a back-to-basics approach have played out.
The Woke 7 (as described by Phil Halse) now appear to be the Woke 6: Couper,
McKenzie, Harding, Ruka, Connop, and Baker. In the other camp are Olsen, Matt
Yovich, Baldwin, Martin, Reid, Paul Yovich, and Christie. Flower’s position on
the woke scale has yet to be tested.
On the face of it, the numbers favour the back-to-basics camp, but with Mayor Couper having a casting vote, we may see a repeat of the split that hamstrung the previous council. During the election campaign, Ken Couper spent a lot of money promoting his apparent opposition to rate increases, despite voting for large increases in the last three years. All eyes will now be on whether he keeps to his election promises.
Northland Regional Council
There are four new faces at the
NRC. In the Bay of Islands ward, Colin Kitchen replaced Marty Robinson, who
retired. John Hunt ousted Rick Stolwerk
in Coastal South, and in the (soon to be disestablished) Maori ward, Pita Tipene
and Arama Morunga defeated Tui Shortland and Peter-Lucas Jones.
Jack Craw, Amy McDonald, and John
Blackwell were re-elected, while Geoff Crawford was re-elected unopposed.
In a five-to-four vote, the
councillors elected Pita Tipene to replace Geoff Crawford as the chairman. This
is despite Tipene not having any local government experience and despite the
public voting to remove the Maori ward. Those supporting Tipene were Craw (who
will be the deputy chairman), McDonald, Morunga, and Kitchen.
It seems the pro-Maori rights faction within the council has the numbers to further embed the Treaty partnership within the council.
The Far North District Council
Moko Tepania has been re-elected
mayor of the FNDC with an increased majority, gaining more than 50% of the vote
on the first count. At the swearing-in ceremony, he announced he would be standing
down at the end of the current term. He did not say what his plans are, but it
is widely speculated that he has his sights on Parliament.
Much has been made of the fact
that eight of the 11 members of the council are “mana wahine”, which the
Northern Advocate claims may be a first for any council.
Former Kaipara District councillor,
Eryn Wilson-Collins was reported to have said, “It’s magnificent. Like actor
Will Ferrell said ‘Isn’t it time for women to run the planet. Men have run the
show since 10,000 BC and haven’t made such a good job of that’.”
Eryn clearly is too busy watching
movies to notice mankind has come a long way since the Stone Age. However, it’s
great she thinks three years with mana wahine at the helm will deliver what +10,000
years couldn’t. Eryn’s insight will be sorely missed on the Kaipara District Council!
Kaipara District Council
Of all councils in the North,
Kaipara had the most dramatic result in a race where the winning margins came
down to single votes.
Johnathan Larsen is the new
mayor, fending off Snow Tane by just 21 votes and Jason Smith by 55 votes.
Former Mayor Craig Jepson was
elected to represent the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai ward, along with incumbent Rachael
Williams and newcomer Luke Canton.
In the Otamatea ward, sitting
councillor Mickey Mouse Mark Vincent missed out by just 2 votes (!) with Mike
Schimanski and Denise Rogers taking the two positions.
In the Wairoa ward (Dargaville), newcomers
Snow Tane and Josephine Kemp were elected along with incumbent Gordon Lambert,
who is the new deputy mayor. Ash Nayyar lost his seat and former Maori ward
councillor, Pera Paniora, failed in her bid to gain a general seat.
This is a new look council, with a new mayor, five new councillors, and three incumbents returning. Gone are Nayya, Paniora, Vincent, and Wilson-Collins. All four were either antagonistic or hostile towards the Jepson mayoralty. With those negative influences gone, the new council is well-positioned to work as a cohesive group to achieve significant gains for their district.
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Northern Advocate: Popular Far North mayor won't seek re-election in 2028 Here >>>
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