Tauranga's star studded return to democracy

Sunday, 5 May 2024

• Tauranga will hold its first election in three years, after the Government installed a technocratic leadership in 2021.

• The council, at the time, was said to be “dysfunctional” with elected councillors resorting to name-calling and petty politics.

• Award winning musician and former television presenter Ria Hall has confirmed she will run for the mayoralty.

The return of democracy to Tauranga will be a star studded affair, with at least one household name competing for the mayoralty.

Award winning musician and former television presenter Ria Hall has confirmed she will run to be mayor of Tauranga.

And Hall is not the only well known Kiwi considering a tilt at the Tauranga election, set down for July. Gold medal winning rower Mahé Drysdale is weighing up his options, looking to follow his grandfather’s footsteps into the world of local government.

His grandfather, Sir Bob Owens, was a mayor in the region from 1971 to 1977. On Saturday, Drysdale told Stuff he hadn’t yet made his final decision and was continuing to talk through options with family, but a run for council was on the table. There are still a few weeks until nominations close.

Former Tauranga deputy mayor Tina Salisbury has started a campaign to be mayor, which is focused on bringing her experience form before 2021 to address issues around transport and housing.

However, no candidate has officially confirmed their nomination for mayor with the Tauranga Council.

But Hall told Stuff she would be standing for mayor, with a campaign to invigorate the region during a “historic” moment for Tauranga.

Tauranga is set to hold its first election in three years, after the Government installed a technocratic leadership and ousted democratically elected councillors in 2021. At the time, the council was said to be “dysfunctional” with elected councillors resorting to name-calling and petty politics.

While Hall is best known as a musician, who performs in both te reo and English, she said it was always a question of “when not if” she would become involved in politics.

With democracy returning and Tauranga quickly expanding, she said now was the right time.

“We need to start progressing. With elections returning to Tauranga, we now have an opportunity,” she said.

Hall said she had always been politically minded, having studied political science. She was also Tauranga-born and bred, having attended Tauranga Girls College. She said her time at high school was the only moment she had been involved in any political campaigning, helping an uncle drop leaflets. She said she was not a member of any political party.

She said her motivation for entering local politics was clear.

“I have three little ones, they drive everything I do. They drive me to want to affect change for a better Tauranga for them, and for everyone in the generations to come,” she said.

To do so, she outlined three challenges Tauranga faced: Housing and urban sprawl, safety, and arts and culture.

She said those would be her priority areas. She wanted to see it made easier for higher density housing to be built in the rapidly growing reason, and she said safety concerns needed to be addressed.

“A lot of our communities are feeling unsafe to go outside,” she said.

“We need to create more social cohesion.”

She said investment into arts and culture in the city would help bring community together.

“Arts and culture in Tauranga is few and far between,” she said.

Increasing cultural and artistic capacity would enliven the city, increase well-being and community cohesion, she said.

As well as standing for mayor, Hall would be standing to represent the Pāpāmoa ward.

Confirmed ward candidates included Jim McKinlay for Matua-Otūmoetai and Marten Rozeboom for Tauriko.

Nominations to stand in the Tauranga 2024 election would close on May 24. Polling day was set for July 20.