Alan Taylor and Ben Fraser have been voted as the representatives for the Whanganui constituency of Horizons Regional Council. Photo / NZME
Incumbent Alan Taylor and new challenger Ben Fraser will be the representatives for the Whanganui constituency of Horizons Regional Council.
With 85% of the votes counted Taylor sits on 6228 and Fraser 5294.
Martin Visser is in third on 4450 votes, followed by Phill Haynes on 3065.
Taylor said every candidate would have had a degree of nerves awaiting the result.
“People may tell you they voted for you, or that they haven’t voted for you, but the people you talk to are only a tiny fraction of the constituency,” he said.
“I intend to do the best I can, with Ben, to make the greatest impact we can for the benefit of Whanganui.”
He said it was important Horizons continued with its integrated catchment approach.
“We have taken the view that everything in catchments is interrelated – a mountains to the sea approach – and working towards making sure we know how one operation affects another.
“Then we make the best decisions, not decisions in silos.”
He said other ongoing matters included building iwi relationships and public transport.
While there had been “murmurings from politicians” about having too many levels of government, the functions of all territorial authorities still had to be covered, including regional councils, Taylor said.
“If there is local government reform, we’ll have to wait and see how the cookie crumbles there.”
Fraser said getting elected was the easy part and it was time to get to work.
“I’m new to the game, and I don’t know what I don’t know, but it’s about prioritising what people in Whanganui want,” he said.
“Fit for purpose public transport, financial accountability and transparency, and looking after the environment. I’m going to stick to those three core things.”
He said Whanganui had put its trust in him and he expected to be held to account.
For the Raki Māori Regional constituency, Eliijah Pue will be elected.
He has 1903 votes, more than 1000 ahead of Soraya Peke-Mason in second.
Pue said he was honoured to be back in local government, after serving on Ruapehu District Council and running for the Ruapehu mayoralty.
“To be ousted through that [mayoralty] process was quite difficult.
“It’s nice to have the confidence of the community again, and I’m representing quite large communities in this particular ward.”
He said the regional council was a different ballgame, and he would need to do a lot of work to understand Horizons’ priorities.
“One of the things I’m really interested in is the natural environment, particularly around the water catchments that exist within Te Awa Tupua and Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika.”
Progress reports on Saturday showed 31,058 people have voted to remove Māori constituencies, with 30,070 voting to keep them.
Pue said he thought the result was too close to call, but if it was scrapped, nothing was stopping him from standing in a general constituency.
“The important thing is to earn my keep, to win the confidence of the wider electorate come the next election.
“There will also be a general election between now and then. If there is a change in government, I would expect some sort of electoral reform, including a review of Maori wards.”
He said he had attended all but one candidate hui he was invited to, and travelled to all corners of the constituency during the campaign, to prove he was “willing to do the hard yards”.
“The cool thing about this election is that the four of us [constituent candidates] are all really closely related. I live on the same street as koko Jim [Edmonds], the incumbent.
“He is deeply respected in the Ruapehu and Waimarino community. I take great honour in taking over the reins from him.”
Meanwhile, Tonga Māori will be represented by Te Kenehi Teira and Ruapehu by Nikki Riley – both elected unopposed.
In the Manawatū-Rangitīkei constituency, Gordon McKellar (7401) and Bruce Gordon (6866) retained their spots ahead of Nigel Barker, who is on 3978 votes.
For the Palmerston North constituency, Jono Naylor (8576), Fiona Gordon (6379) and Wiremu Te Awe Awe (6892) look likely to be joined by new member Peter Wells, who has 7830 votes.
The candidates who will miss out for Palmerston North are Jackie Lindsay (4838), Emma Gregg (4817), Daniel Fordyce (3820), Shareel Nand-Mishra (3093) and Munu Karki (1797).
There will be two new members of the Horowhenua constituency, with Hamish Easton (4959) likely to be joined by Luka Jansen (3566).
Donald Hayes is currently in third place with 2707 votes.
Sally Dryland (2906) will be the Tararua constituency member, with over 900 votes more than second-placed Grace Pettit.
Progress results show 31,058 people have voted to remove Māori constituencies, with 30,070 voting to keep them.