Phil Mauger confirms bid to retain Christchurch mayoralty

Monday, 20 January 2025

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger announces re-election bid.

The race for the Christchurch mayoralty has kicked off with incumbent Phil Mauger confirming he will fight to keep his seat in the October election.

In a statement released to The Press on Monday, Mauger said he was vowing to keep rates increases as low as possible while driving continued progress for the city.

Mauger was forced to bring forward his announcement after his website, which was under development, inadvertently confirmed on Monday morning his bid to retain the top job.

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger wants a second term at the top.

He was widely tipped to stand again, but has until now refused to confirm his plans.

The only other contender to publicly state their intention to stand for the mayoralty is councillor Sara Templeton, who announced in October.

Phil Mauger says he has six key priorities he will be focusing on if re-elected as mayor.

Mauger said he would be focusing on six key priorities, which he said were designed to address the city’s most pressing needs and future challenges.

He wants to make rates affordable, lead a stable council, deliver essential services well, protect and enhance our environment, future-proof water infrastructure, and complete major infrastructure projects on time.

During the last election campaign Mauger said he would keep rates increases to below 4% - a promise he has failed to keep with a 9.9% increase this financial year and 8.93% predicted from July 1.

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger and councillor Sara Templeton are both running for the mayoralty at the October local body election.

However, Mauger has not mentioned any rates increase limit this time. He has only pointed out there are costs the council cannot influence - inflation, interest and loan repayments and One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha, which alone amount to an 8% increase.

“As a community we need to have a conversation about what are the must-haves and then what we could change to save money.”

He has not outlined how he would save money.

“We need to continue to identify savings without compromising essential services. We’ve got to look at every way we can to save some money. The last thing we want to do is chop services, so we’ve got to be very careful about our spending.”

His campaign will have the slogan “Delivering today for a better tomorrow”.

Mauger said he wanted to continue to deliver practical results now, while planning for Christchurch’s long-term and prosperous growth.

He said he would continue to stand as an independent and had proven he could work across all political persuasions after leading a stable council for the past two years.

“I firmly believe that local government should focus on what is best for the community and not party agendas.”

He said Christchurch was moving in a positive direction, with rising consumer confidence, improving business outlooks, and a thriving investment climate.

“Christchurch is a city on the rise.”

He lists his key accomplishments as retaining ownership of the city’s three waters infrastructure - which was ultimately a Government decision - and upgrading and relocating the organics processing plant from Bromley to Hornby, which is in the planning stage.