NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

OPINION: Early Tauranga mayoral showdown had one clear winner

Samantha Motion
By Samantha Motion
Regional Content Leader·Bay of Plenty Times·
13 Jun, 2019 07:24 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Audience members at the Meet the Mayoral Candidates event. Photo / George Novak

Audience members at the Meet the Mayoral Candidates event. Photo / George Novak

COMMENT:

Tauranga's mayoral race got off to an earnest yet slightly premature start this week with a Meet the Candidates event at Tauranga Girls' College. Civic issues reporter Samantha Motion was there and reviewed each of the seven candidates' performance.

It wasn't a debate but there was a winner when the seven people - so far- to launch a bid for Tauranga's mayoralty faced off on Tuesday night.

The event felt a bit premature, with a month still to go before candidate nominations officially open.

At this rate the voters will be sick of campaign politics before that democratic visual pollution – election hoardings – even go up.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There was, however, a reasonably good turnout, though heavily skewed towards the older generation. You can't fault Baby Boomers for their enthusiasm for weeknight civic engagement.

Mayor Greg Brownless looked like he knew he was in for a beating.

His speeches were flat and multiple photos of him looking like he was having a bit of shut-eye between turns at the podium don't help.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Danny Cancian, Tenby Powell and Greg Brownless at the event. Photo / George Novak
Danny Cancian, Tenby Powell and Greg Brownless at the event. Photo / George Novak

For someone with a generally cheery disposition, it was hard to discern any joy or enthusiasm for the job in his "back to basics" introduction.

A question about his regrets stumped him for several long seconds.

I don't think he can count on his name recognition and philanthropic reputation to get him over the line for re-election, he's going to need to buck up a bit.

His deputy Kelvin Clout, on the other hand, was full of energy – he even said so himself.

Clout was also, unfortunately, his own worst enemy in front of that crowd, jumping far too enthusiastically on almost every grenade issue lobbed in his general vicinity, particularly his defence of Te Papa O Ngā Manu Porotakataka.

In another risible moment, he admitted avoiding meeting a disgruntled homeowner with years of grievances on legal advice, then changing his mind and meeting the guy the day before the meeting.

Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout. Photo / George Novak
Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout. Photo / George Novak

It was more ammunition for the "arrogant council" narrative some candidates were only too glad to exploit.

Clout did have one of the more original ideas of the night, calling for the electorate to be split into smaller wards with a single councillor responsible for each to increase accountability. Worth exploring.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Former councillor Murray Guy made a decent play for voters to return him to that role. While prone to all-caps rants on Facebook, he was entertaining on the mic and knows the issues well.

It was hard to take Danny Cancian, Les Wallen or Rangimarie Te Amopiu-Kaa Kingi seriously as potential leaders of New Zealand's fifth biggest city.

Both Cancian and Wallen were one-issue ponies. Cancian targeted council bullying and Wallen slammed roading changes in Greerton.

Wallen had the audience engaged at first but gradually lost them as he kept returning to the same transport issues over and over.

I reckon Cancian is relying too much on the support he receives in his corner of Facebook, because I can't see that translating into votes from the general population.

Kingi, aka Lady Justice, seemed a bit all over the place to me.

Mayoral candidates Murray Guy and Rangimarie Te Amopiu-Kaa Kingi during Tuesdays event. Photo / George Novak
Mayoral candidates Murray Guy and Rangimarie Te Amopiu-Kaa Kingi during Tuesdays event. Photo / George Novak

Lastly, Tenby Powell, my pick for the winner of this not-a-debate.

He was easily the most polished presenter and for someone who apparently scootered on back to his childhood home a mere month ago, he was well informed on a variety of issues and has clearly touched base with a lot of local pundits already.

He didn't entirely lean on council-bashing to make his points and didn't pander to the audience with too much populism - even attempting to throw in a good word for Phil Twyford.

Some of his name dropping was a bit cringeworthy but he has a tough task ahead to build his local name recognition so, why not?

Powell was spoiling for a fight – preemptively dealing with criticisms of being a recently former Aucklander and too busy to be mayor – but didn't really manage to get any of the other candidates to bite.

But there's still time, the campaign is only just beginning.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Heavy rain warnings extended as front sits over central North Island

03 Jul 09:22 AM
New Zealand

Fatal crash charge: 20-year-old to face court over Southland tragedy

03 Jul 08:09 AM
New Zealand

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

03 Jul 08:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Heavy rain warnings extended as front sits over central North Island

Heavy rain warnings extended as front sits over central North Island

03 Jul 09:22 AM

Rain started falling at the top of the country before dawn.

Fatal crash charge: 20-year-old to face court over Southland tragedy

Fatal crash charge: 20-year-old to face court over Southland tragedy

03 Jul 08:09 AM
'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

'Needs to be killed': Gang president allegedly ordered fatal attack on fellow member

03 Jul 08:00 AM
How student loan penalties are keeping Kiwis from returning home

How student loan penalties are keeping Kiwis from returning home

03 Jul 07:49 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP