Josh Te Kani missed out on a Tauranga City Council seat this time, but says he'll try again. Photo / George Novak
Josh Te Kani missed out on a Tauranga City Council seat this time, but says he'll try again. Photo / George Novak
Eight men and three women. One person under 30. No people of colour.
Local councils around New Zealand experienced an explosion in diversity in this weekend's election, but not much changed at Tauranga City Council.
That was despite a more diverse field of candidates - including several Māori - thanin previous elections and a new proportional voting system said to make it easier for minorities to get elected.
The gender balance is the same as after the 2016 election, though it became more imbalanced during the term when Gail McIntosh died and John Robson was elected.
The balance would change again if Anna Larsen overtakes Bill Grainger in the yet-to-be-settled Welcome Bay-Te Papa race.
The only known ethnic diversity in the newly elected councillors is Jako Abrie's South African heritage. At 30, he is also the youngest councillor elected since 2013.
Unsuccessful candidate Josh Te Kani, 34, said he believed some voters tended to think Māori candidates were only out for Māori.
The radio host, producer and Ngai Te Rangi youth worker was among a group of Māori candidates who stood for the first time this year, many inspired by the 11 Mission St debate.
"I think there were Pākehā in the wider community that did vote for us, but not enough," he said.
That "hegemony" was something the city still needed to get past.
Well, we are absolutely gutted we were unsuccessful in gaining a council seat, but success is not final and failure is...
Te Kani said having people of different backgrounds on council was important to ensure different views were considered in decision making and to combat Tauranga's "siloed" nature.
"A person growing up in Matua is going to have a very different experience to a person in Matapihi. Tauranga Moana is a siloed city."
Elected councillors had a responsibility to connect with diverse communities and understand their perspectives.
Te Kani said it was great to see so many Māori run this year, and felt there had been an "awakening across the board" with more people - young and old - taking an interest in voting.
He was "inspired and motivated" to work hard and try again, and hoped other Māori candidates would too.
Josh Te Kani during a haka at the Baywide Rugby final in 2016 between his team, Rangataua and Mount Maunganui. Photo / File
Charlie Tawhiao, chairman of the Ngai Te Rangi Settlement Trust said he wanted to see Māori who aspired to be on council putting themselves out there between elections.
Blanche McMath, a marketing company owner who supported several Māori candidates, said the council should consider Maori wards to make it easier for Maori to get elected.
She said Māori were 17 or 18 per cent of the population, which should equate to two seats in a proportional representation system.
But there were still "racist" attitudes in Tauranga.
"There are still pockets of people who will not vote for Māori and don't want Māori representing them."
She wanted to see more Māori engaged with the council, both in elections and in general.
"This has been a launchpad for people to activate their voice through the election process and create some change."
Waitsu Wu's face was cut out and stuck on one of Tenby Powell's signs. Photo / Supplied
Waitsu Wu, an unsuccessful candidate for Welcome Bay-Te Papa, said she had doors slammed in her face and was told to "go back to your own country" while hand-delivering her campaign flyers.
"A lot of people were not friendly," said the 56-year-old, who came to New Zealand from Taiwan 30 years ago.
"We still have a long way to go. New Zealand has a huge migrant population but the diversity effort is not there yet."
Vandalism of her signs made her feel so unsafe she reported it to the police. Those sorts of experiences made it harder for migrants to stand and "put ourselves out there", she said.
Re-elected Tauranga City councillor Steve Morris. Photo / File
Steve Morris, re-elected to the Mount Maunganui-Pāpāmoa ward, was not concerned about a lack of gender, age or ethnic diversity in the new council.
"What is important is diversity of thought, not genetic diversity."
"My predisposition to not having hair on my head is as relevant as my gender or ethnicity."
Morris said he had some Māori heritage. Generations of his family up until his great, great, great grandmother, were Māori or had grown up on or around marae.
It was a heritage he had explored, being the first of his generation to return to the marae.
"Ancestry is important to me but it doesn't define me."
Blanche McMath with former Tauranga City councillor Max Mason in 2017. Photo / File
