Bowing out after 15 years in local government

Two-term Mackenzie mayor Graham Smith is stepping away from politics after 15 years in local government.

Smith, who first threw his hat in the ring to be a councillor in 2007, later becoming deputy mayor to Claire Barlow, has not sought re-election in this year’s local body elections, instead saying it is time to step away.

Smith, who went on to become mayor in 2016, was re-elected in a landslide in 2019, with opponent Christchurch journalist Julian Lee later saying he had only run to prove a point but had missed the deadline to withdraw.

‘‘It has not been an easy decision but, after considerable deliberation, I have decided not to seek re-election. I need to devote more time to my family and other businesses,’’ Smith said.

‘‘Being mayor has been a privilege and a humbling experience, and I am confident that I am leaving Mackenzie in a good and stable position going forward over the next triennium.’’ Now, he intends to dedicate himself to his family and businesses.

‘‘I still have a farm, I am chairman of a property company, and I probably need – to put it simply – to put my own life back in order, which, at times, has taken second place because I have been so involved and consumed with dealing with the issues for Mackenzie. But it has been a privilege, and I have been humbled and honoured by the fact that I was elected to be their mayor. And I have served my best for the last six years, and I have been on council for 15 [years].’’

Smith said that while being mayor could be a tough gig, he was motivated by his ‘‘passion’’ for the Mackenzie and a desire to ‘‘give back’’. ‘‘. . . there is so much opportunity, and I was in a position where I could give something back and I really wanted to because I respect the people of Mackenzie, what can be achieved and has been achieved.’’

He had been ‘‘quite humbled by the people that I have represented’’.

‘‘I think one of the things that will stand most strongly in my mind is the kindness of people during Covid, we really did look

‘‘I am confident that I am leaving Mackenzie in a good and stable position.’’

Graham Smith Mackenzie mayor

after our own people, and I am immensely proud of what came out – Covid brought the best out of the people in Mackenzie.’’

But the pandemic also posed an economic challenge almost unequalled in New Zealand, as the Mackenzie District was one of the areas most dependent on overseas tourists prior to the border closures, and identified by the Government as one of the five regions most impacted by the border closures.

‘‘It has been a big economic hit, [creating] a lot of hardship for our businesses.

‘‘We fought very hard to get as much funding as we could for our businesses in the Mackenzie, and the Government did play ball with us to a fair degree – we got some strategic asset funding and other funding, which helped businesses over, but it has not replaced what the closing of the borders took away and the drop off in tourism.’’

The Mackenzie District Council has one of the lowest staffing levels in the country, overseeing one of the smallest population bases in New Zealand (third smallest), spread across one of the largest land areas of any territorial authority (about 746,000 hectares), which encompasses some 730 kilometres of roads, and 240km of water pipes, according to the 2021 Local Government New Zealand CouncilMark assessment, when the council received a B- grade.

Mackenzie joined Waimate and Timaru district councils in signing a joint waste and recycling contract with Envirowaste in 2020 but otherwise regularly bats away suggestions of amalgamation.

Smith has also been vocal about his opposition to the proposed Three Waters reforms.

‘‘Mackenzie is a member of Communities 4 Local Democracy.

‘‘The assumptions that were given to us from the Department of Internal Affairs are clearly wrong.

‘‘We honestly believe that we can produce water cheaper and manage our water.’’

But Smith agreed improvements needed to be made and said the council was ‘‘right behind the creation of water regulator Taumata Arowai but are strongly opposed to one big entity D model’’.

‘‘We favour a joined up catchment kind of model. We have got some real concerns around that and we will continue to oppose it, as far as the Mackenzie is concerned.’’

He said if the reforms went ahead, the Mackenzie council could lose ‘‘15% of our revenue, which comes from water related services. We lose staff and it will further question the sustainability of small councils’’.

The district’s average daily residential water use (800 litres of water per person per day) is thought to be among the highest in the country according to Water NZ’s 2020-2021 report.

Smith’s terms coincided with the abrupt departure of former chief executive Suzette van Aswegen late last year, marking the end of a turbulent period for a council that has struggled with staff turnover and difficulties recruiting.

‘‘It is very important that Mackenzie works well with our chief executive and, unfortunately, our last chief executive went back to Australia. So it has been a tricky time as we have brought new people into the role,’’ Smith said.

‘‘It is not only chief executives that have made the job quite challenging. We have been quite short on staff, we had quite a large turnover of staff and in a small organisation, you only have to have a couple of key staff go, and it changes everything.’’

Smith said he was not concerned the departure of both the mayor and deputy mayor would create a void.

‘‘I am quite confident. We have still got some councillors that have been here the whole six years that I have been mayor and I am hopeful that further good governance type people will go on to council.’’

The Mackenzie District mayoralty will be a contest between councillor Anne Munro and Robin McCarthy.