First wāhine Māori to stand for Ruapehu District Council's top job

Fiona Kahukura Hadley-Chase (centre) calls together Māori ward advocates in a march to Horizons Regional Council in May last year. Photo / Moana Ellis

Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporter

The fourth contender to declare for the hotly contested Ruapehu mayoralty is the first wāhine Māori to stand for the district council's top job.

Māori wards advocate Fiona Kahukura Hadley-Chase campaigned fiercely for equity in Māori representation at Horizons Regional Council and Ruapehu District Council. Both councils are introducing Māori wards in October's local body elections.

Taumarunui born-and-raised, Hadley-Chase said she has been urged to stand for the mayoralty by whānau and the Taumarunui community. She will also run for a Māori ward seat.

"I'm standing to put on the table the kaupapa that aren't on the table, and drive those forward to make transformational change.

"What I know is if you want change, you have to be the change. And I encourage everyone to try to be that change."

Also contesting the vacancy as incumbent Don Cameron steps down is the former two-term mayor and Horizons regional councillor Weston Kirton, and sitting Ruapehu councillors Adie Doyle and Elijah Pue.

Hadley-Chase called a hui at Mōrero Marae in Taumarunui to discuss a strategy "to move our communities forward".

"I've spent a lot of time listening to the community and a lot of issues are being raised. One is how the council hasn't managed to engage with the full community, inclusive of Māori and women.

"I want to give a platform for women to be able to freely say what they need to say. Strengthening the woman's voice is also strengthening opportunities for our whānau, our children, our mokopuna."

Hadley-Chase said she also wants genuine change within the council to ensure better engagement with the entire community.

Fiona Kahukura Hadley-Chase (with flag, centre) leads Māori ward advocates arriving at Horizons Regional Council in May last year. Photo / Moana Ellis

She said there was a need for the council to ease the rising cost of living where possible, improve social housing and create employment where people are valued and are happily employed at decent rates. Protecting amenities such as parks and community halls, including the Taumarunui War Memorial Hall and the Kākahi Hall, was also important.

"Some of these may seem like minor issues to some, but they are important to many members of our community – such as ensuring there are parks and places where dog owners can run their dogs off the leash."

Hadley-Chase lived in Australia where she worked with the disadvantaged and struggling, particularly young people, helping them to re-engage with society through better social skills and education.

"I came home from Australia to see my own community struggling and so I've been an advocate for our people for the past five years. I remember going to a symposium at Pūtiki where Aunty Tariana [Turia] said we all need to be more courageous, and from that day that's what I've been trying to be.

"If all people get together and work as a team, great things can happen."

Hadley-Chase said she represents diversity in multiple ways, including as tangata whenua, as a woman, and as a member of the LGBTQ community.

Earlier in the year, she married Kathy Hadley, her partner of 20 years. The couple bought and re-opened the former Taumarunui café The Copper Tree, renaming it Café 75 after its location on Hakiaha St, and employing 12 people.

The hui will discuss nominating more Māori candidates to the three Māori ward seats as well as the six general seats and the Taumarunui-Ōhura Community Board, which has five seats.

"I know people who are coming to the hui who have never, ever voted in a local election and now they're coming to discuss perhaps even standing in those spaces," Hadley-Chase said.

"At the end of the day we'll get more Māori voting than ever before and that's got to be a good thing."

The hui at Mōrero Marae will be held from 2pm-6pm.