Meet the Asian councillors 'honoured' to have secured a seat at the table

First published on 20 October, this article has since been updated with comments from councillors Jaspreet Boparai and Laurie Foon.

More than a dozen Asian New Zealanders have been elected to council seats nationwide in the recent local body elections.

Official results from the local body elections were published on Saturday by Local Government in New Zealand after all ordinary and special votes had been counted.

Five Asian individuals won a seat on their local council for the first time.

Councillors of Asian heritage who won a seat for the first time included Leo Liu for Hamilton City Council, Gurpreet Dhillon for Upper Hutt, Prabha Ravi and Karen (Kaz) Yung for Hutt City, and Benedict Ong for Dunedin.

Alan Young of Horowhenua District Council, Matt Wong of Queenstown Lakes District Council, Jeff Wong of Rangitīkei District Council, Ray Chung of Wellington City and Jaspreet Boparai of the Southland District Council returned for a second term.

Yadana Saw of the Greater Wellington Regional Council also returned for a second term.

Rotorua Lakes Council's Fisher Wang and Sandra Kai Fong returned for a third term, taking out first and second place in the vote tallies respectively.

Laurie Foon of Wellington City Council also returned for a third term.

New Hamilton councillor Liu, who represents the East Ward, felt "truly honoured" to have earned voters' trust.

"Beyond excitement, I also feel a deep sense of responsibility," Liu said.

"To me, this is not just a position - it's a mission to serve our community and to contribute meaningfully to the future of our city."

Financial sustainability, infrastructure, community safety, transparency and efficiency were among Liu's priorities.

"As an Asian councillor, I also hope to serve as a bridge, encouraging more people from diverse backgrounds to engage in civic life and bring their ideas and perspectives to the table," Liu said.

Dhillon came from India to New Zealand as an international student in 2008 and worked in IT and radio in Tauranga before moving to Upper Hutt about a decade ago.

After winning a seat on the Council At Large in Upper Hutt City, Dhillon felt "deeply grateful" for the mandate the community had given him.

"I'm also humbled to make history as the first councillor of South Asian and Indian origin elected to the Upper Hutt City Council," he said.

"This milestone reflects our city's growing diversity and the inclusive spirit of our community."

Dhillon pledged to strengthen the city's core services and connections with the communities to ensure practical outcomes for people.

Although unsuccessful in his attempt to become mayor for Hutt City, Ravi secured a seat on the Council At Large while harvesting the second-highest number of votes.

Ravi arrived in New Zealand nearly 30 years ago from India with her husband and has since worked in business and consultancy.

"I'm deeply humbled and truly honoured by the trust and confidence our community has placed in me," she said.

"Although I missed out on being mayor this time, I'm very grateful for the very strong support I received.

"I'm excited to serve as a councillor and look forward to working hard to make a real, positive difference for our city."

Ensuring responsible spending, improving transparency and making Hutt City more affordable, vibrant and inclusive would be the focus of her term, Ravi said.

Born to parents from China, Yung was born and raised in Hutt Valley. She has already served three terms on the Petone Community Board.

She won a seat on Hutt City's Council At Large.

"Even though I'm not new to this local government space, it actually still feels very surreal. I'm feeling very humbled, very proud and very excited about this new chapter," she said.

"I'm excited to be on a council that already is more representative of our city than it ever has been because when you can see someone at the table who looks or sounds like you, that makes you feel seen and heard."

Ensuring the community was heard, communicating opportunities well for households and building climate resilience would be her priorities, Yung said.

Born in Dunedin to parents who were from Malaysia, Ong moved away to live in Sydney at a young age and has since lived in many countries.

Ong returned to Dunedin earlier this year and decided to contribute to his hometown from his economic and financial expertise as a former international banker.

He has successfully secured a seat on the Council At Large at Dunedin City Council.

"I feel very proud that I can serve my hometown, where I returned to live and stand to serve after a whole lifetime away from Dunedin," Ong said.

Ong's priorities included growing the council's financial performance from its commercial and community assets, growing job opportunities and freezing rate rises.

Jeff Wong said being on Rangitīkei District Council was a "natural fit" for him because he had been involved in retail business and tutoring for decades.

He had also served as a justice of the peace locally.

His grandfather arrived in Taihape from China in the 1920s, with his family operating a local Four Square for decades.

Wong said being re-elected to council was not surprising because he was the only incumbent council member who ran for the two seats available in the Northern Ward.

He said his priorities would be finishing redevelopment projects such as the old Town Hall and keeping an eye on rate increases.

"I'm very aware that people don't like paying rates, don't want to pay much rates but it costs money to do things," he said.

"I'll make sure that I've tried my best to ensure the flows-on do not [cause] too much rate increases."

Young's returning for a second term as a councillor for the Levin General Ward on Horowhenua District Council.

Young's great-grandfather came to New Zealand from Guangzhou, China, and he was born and bred in Levin.

He expressed a degree of anxiousness during the election campaign.

"The feedback during the campaign was very positive and the support was massive whilst also having many wanting to give their ideas and feedback, which is really what I'm after as I pride myself on being present and attentive so that I can bring this feedback to the council table," he said.

Young said he would take up more roles on the council, such as chairing committees.

He also pledged to help mentor newly elected councillors in their new roles.

Matt Wong represents the Queenstown-Whakatipu Ward on Queenstown Lakes District Council for a second time.

A fourth-generation Chinese New Zealander, Wong said his family had blended into the New Zealand culture over generations but still had the "resilience, hard work ethic and quiet contribution in our nature".

He grew up in Greytown and has lived in Queenstown for the past 25 years, where he now raised his two children with his wife.

"Being re-elected is humbling," he said. "This is my second term, and it's an honour to be the top-polling councillor two elections in a row."

Financial sustainability, recruitment of a new CEO, setting up a new water services model and getting a regional deal with central government to shift some burden off ratepayers were among his priorities, Wong said.

Despite failing the mayoral race, Chung has also secured a seat for the Wharangi/Onslow-Western General Ward on Wellington City Council with a margin of 45 votes.

Jaspreet Boparai of Southland District Council's Waiau Aparima Ward said it was "humbling" to be elected for a second term because it was "reflective of the trust the community has reposed in me".

Boparai came to New Zealand from India with her husband in 2009 and has been working in the dairy industry for more than a decade.

She said she would continue to be vocal for the local community.

"With the massive changes in legislation coming from the centre around [Three] Waters, the Resource Management Act, climate adaptation, etc, it is easy for local voices to get lost," Boparai said.

"My job as I see it is to be the conduit that keeps the constituents aware of what impacts them and in what manner."

Wang secured a seat at the Rotorua Lakes Council's General Ward for a third time.

His parents came to New Zealand from Taiwan about 30 years ago, bringing ancestry from China, Japan and the Netherlands.

Winning a council seat at the age of 19 in 2019 and becoming the youngest councillor in Rotorua, Wang felt "incredibly grateful and humbled" to be elected for a third term.

"It's a huge privilege to be able to continue to serve our community here in Rotorua, and I don't take the trust and support people have placed in me for granted," he said.

Wang said he would continue to be genuine and authentic, and work hard for the community.

His focus would be on building a resilient infrastructure network, supporting arts and culture, advocating for sustainable development, enabling more housing, revitalisation of the CBD, destination marketing and attracting investment.

Kai Fong also secured a third term on Rotorua Lakes Council, expecting to be named deputy mayor for the second time.

Her grandfather arrived in Rotorua from China in the early 1900s and the family had stayed there ever since.

Involvement with local community groups and philanthropic trusts had prompted her into politics.

"[I'm] excited to be working to support Mayor [Tania] Tapsell to support the new priorities of the incoming council," she said.

Completing key infrastructure projects around wastewater and a treatment plant and improving spending priorities were among Kai Fong's priorities.

Laurie Foon, from the Southern General Ward, said she was "thrilled and thankful" to her voters for being re-elected to Wellington City Council for a third term.

She is a fourth-generation Chinese and great-granddaughter of William Foon, the first naturalised Chinese person in the area of Te Awa Kairangi and Lower Hutt.

Foon said she had been proud to serve as deputy mayor for the past term.

"I plan to continue delivering sustainable programmes for our city, including moving to zero waste and a circular economy, increasing the number of homes in the inner city, expanding low-carbon transport choices and continuing city revitalisation projects," she said.

"I also want to see our thriving tech sector boosted to become the largest employer in our city."

Foon said she was thankful to the Chinese community for the generations of contributions they have made and looked forward to ensuring the Chinese Garden of Beneficence was built on the waterfront.

Saw, who was re-elected to the Pōneke/Wellington Regional Constituency on the Greater Wellington Regional Council, said anyone who was an incumbent would feel happy to return given the competition.

She said the turnover of leadership roles at local government represented a big loss of experience.

"I think our priority is ... to continue to improve public transport," she said. "It's also to make sure that if we just stick to the plan of what we're doing, we can keep it affordable for our communities."

Saw also hoped to set up a new water entity and better manage flooding risks.