Waipā Maori ward councillor byelection nominations open at the end of March

Takena Stirling. Photo / WDC

Waipā District Council will hold a byelection for the recently vacated Māori ward seat in June, with nominations opening at the end of this month.

The byelection was forced by current Māori ward councillor Takena Stirling, who handed in his resignation last week following his interim suspension as a lawyer.

Waipā Mayor Susan O’Regan says she was “deeply disappointed”.

“All councillors are disappointed and frankly, quite disheartened. This is not what we wanted for our council or our district, or for those whom Takena represented,” she says.

Stirling, a Te Awamutu-based lawyer, was elected as the district’s inaugural Māori ward councillor in October. He resigned following his suspension by the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal of the New Zealand Law Society.

According to an online decision of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, dated December 22 last year, Stirling allegedly misappropriated funds advanced for a purported settlement by diverting funds to his own use. His bank has suffered a net loss in the order of $85,000.

O’Regan says Stirling’s resignation was effective immediately and he won’t be returning to the council.

“Takena has taken full responsibility for his actions and I am grateful for that. Now we can get on quickly and get someone else into his seat. By law, we have no choice but to hold a byelection,” O’Regan says.

The byelection will be held by postal vote, and the council says it has been advised that the cost will be between $22,000 and $25,000. As the vacated seat is for a Māori ward councillor, only voters enrolled on the Māori electoral roll will be able to cast a vote.

Nominations will close on April 27 and the delivery of postal voting papers will start on June 1. Voting will close on Friday, June 23, with a successful candidate likely to be announced the same day.

The election will be managed independently on the council’s behalf by electionnz.com.

Stirling, born and raised in Kihikihi, studied law at Waikato University and previously worked as a commercial lawyer in Hamilton and in the King Country.

He opened his own law firm Stirling Legal in Te Awamutu in 2019, focusing on commercial and property law and asset protection.