The Far North District Council's newly elected politicians at the swearing-in ceremony in Kaikohe. Photo / Susan Botting
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania will not be seeking his council‘s top job at the next local elections in 2028.
Tepania made the soft launch announcement about his future to gasps of surprise at the Far North District Council’s [FNDC] meeting on Wednesday.
The colourful pōwhiri and swearing-in ceremony was full of kōrero, waiata, and haka in front of the newly elected politicians in Kaikohe.
Around 200 people attended including students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe, Kaikohe East School and Kaikohe West School.
Tepania said he was humbled to be elected for a second term and to be leading a mana wāhine council where women now make up 73% of those at the council table.
“I am looking forward to giving my all for the people of the Far North and setting up for success with the council and its community boards to do that,” Tepania said after the ceremony.
The inauguration was the start of the term, while his departure would mark the end.
Tepania was voted New Zealand’s most popular mayor this year in a Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll.
He said he loved the job of Far North Mayor, but he was looking forward to moving into other areas after the local elections in 2028.
“I think, for me, three terms of service on the Far North District Council – one as a councillor and two as mayor – will be enough for me to have given to the people of the Far North,” he said after the meeting.
Tepania chose a new councillor, Kaikohe East School principal Chicky Rudkin, as his deputy mayor.
But in a surprise move, he backed returning four-term councillor Felicity Foy for the next mayoralty at the ceremony.
He said Foy would have been his additional choice if he could have had two deputy mayors.
He backed Foy for the mayoralty, should she choose to accept that.
“If she made a decision to run for mayor, I would endorse her,” he said.
Foy said later she had no idea he was going to make this announcement.
But, subject to talking to her family, she was interested in standing for the top job.
Foy said she was humbled by Tepania’s comments backing her.
Tepania said that indicating this position at the ceremony had been a “soft prompt forward”, and he wanted to give others notice of his intention.
“It’s a huge decision for someone to make to stand for mayor.”
His response was lukewarm when asked later whether he would pursue a Government MP’s role after 2028.
He said that was not his goal in the short term, but it might be something he considered in the longer term.
In the shorter term, he wanted to work toward a Doctor of Education, further developing his work on the use of maramataka or the Māori lunar calendar in education.
He also wanted to spend more time with whānau and family, including more time working on the ground with his marae – Mātihetihe Marae in Mitimiti, remote North Hokianga and Waihapa Marae in Whangaroa.
Tepania swore in new councillors Rudkin, Arohanui Allen, Rachel Baucke, Ann Court, Foy, Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, Davina Smolders and John Vujcich.
Rākena was not at the ceremony because he was in China.
Meanwhile, the council’s 19 politicians across three community boards were sworn in on Friday.
Tepania bestowed his new deputy mayor with the title Te Kohepu o te Hiku o Te Ika – the flower of the kohekohe tree.
He said the name acknowledged Chicky Rudkin’s deep roots in Kaikohe, where she was born and grew up with close ties to Hokianga and Whangaroa.
The kohekohe flower, with its sweet smell, has a strong connection to Ngāpuhi. The mid-north town’s Kaikohe name originates from the native tree.
Rudkin was the FNDC Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board’s chairwoman for the last council term.
Tepania said she would be retiring from her role as principal at the end of the year.
Rudkin told the about 100 students present she was proof that local people could achieve, even if they had not gone to university.
They would have the opportunity to one day be standing where she and the councillors at the ceremony were.
Tepania said a youth council would be returning to FNDC next year.
Meanwhile, a unique father-son combination will be among FNDC community board members.
Kaitāia’s Mike Te Wake is Te Hiku Community Board’s Kaitāia representative.
His father, Panguru’s Doug Te Wake, is the Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board’s North Hokianga representative.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.