Mr R. A. Owens winner of two mayoralties

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32734, 11 October 1971, Page 1

Mr R. A. Owens winner of two mayoralties

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 10. Mr R. A. Owens, returned unopposed as Mayor of Tauranga, is now Mayor of Mount Maunganui as well.

Mr Owens, who stood against the sitting Mayor of Mount Maunganui, Mr A. R. Harris, in the local body elections, comfortably won the contest on Saturday. He polled a provisional 1925 votes to Mr Harris’s .1071; 600 special votes have still to be counted.

Mr Owens, who lives in Tauranga, but is a ratepayer of Mount Maunganui Borough as Well, has been Mayor of Tauranga for three years. Mr Harris has been Mayor of Mount Maunganui for the last 12 years. It is thought that Mr Owens is the first person in New Zealand to have been Mayor of two areas at the same time. WELLINGTON UPSET On provisional returns Wellington has its first Labour City Council. However, more than 2000 special votes might upset the results. The provisional results give Labour eight seats to the Citizens’ group’s seven, and four of the five new faces are Labour representatives. Only 23 votes separate the fifteenth successful candidate, Mr J. F. Aspell (Labour) and the next most successful candidate, Mr I. W. Lawrence (Citizens). The former Leader of the Opposition, Mr A. H. Nordmeyer, topped the poll for the Wellington Hospital Board, and Sir Francis Kitts was re-elected Mayor with more than double the votes of the Citizens’ candidate.

The poll for Wellington was 44.3 per cent. In Auckland, the Citizens and Ratepayers’ team dominated voting for the city council, and the Dunedin Mayor, Mr J. G. Barnes, was returned with an increased majority over his Labour opponent, Mr R. J. Calvert.

Although no organised groups contested the Rotorua city elections, the new Mayor there is Mr R. Boord, who was Minister of Customs in the 1957-60 Labour Government.

As expected, Auckland’s Mayor, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, was re-elected with an overwhelming majority over his two young opponents. Apart from Christchurch, the only city to oust its Mayor from office was Nelson, where the electors swept Mr R. A. McLennan into power with twice the votes polled by the sitting mayor, Mr T. F. Horne. TIMARU RESULT

In a three-way contest for the Timaru mayoralty, a former councillor, Mr C. R. Hervey, was returned with a narrow majority. The sitting Mayor, Mr S. R. Bennett, who took office by appointment seven months ago, did not contest the mayoralty, but topped the poll with a record vote in the election for city councillors. Mr Hervey defeated a sitting councillor and reserves chairman, Mr L. R. Jenkin, by 437 votes, with the third candidate, Mr L. R. Oliff, also a sitting councillor, 946 votes behind Mr Jenkin. Both Messrs Jenkin and Oliff were re-elected as councillors. There was an estimated 63 per cent-plus poll in the city, which may emerge as a New I Zealand record for percent-1 age polling. In the 1968 election, 62 per cent of!

Timaru electors went to the polls, which was the record for the country. WEST COAST One of three West Coast Mayors lost his seat. Mayors in Greymouth and Hokitika were returned to office, but in Runanga, Mr G. R. H. Wright was deposed by Mr W. S. H. Wick, a long-srand-ing councillor. Greymouth’s Mayor, Mr O. H. Jackson defeated the district Coroner, Mr D. H. Copeland.

The Mayor of Hokitika for the last 13 years, Mr W. J. Richards, survived a challenge from one of his councillors, Mr W. A. Reynolds. A referendum in the Reefton riding of the Inangahua County Council which would have allowed the setting up of a first offenders’ prison was defeated by 321 votes to 193.

A woman topped the poll in one of the Kaikoura County ridings. Miss Annie Boyd, a teacher’s aide and a farmer, is the first woman to win a seat on the council. In the same county. Mr A. W. Shand, son of the late Mr T. P. Shand, lost the seat he has held for the last three years. Blenheim’s Mayor, Mr S. P. Harling, was re-elected for a fourth term, and the Deputy Mayor of Picton, Mr C. W. Bryant, beco mes Mayor. In Motueka, a triangular contest for the mayoralty was won by the sitting Mayor. Mr L. J. Krammer.

In the Taupo County Corneil election, the Prime Minister’s son, Mr R. H. Holyoake, a Kinlich farmer.

romped home ahead of the sitting member for the Tatua riding, Mr R. B. Moorhouse, in a 76 per cent postal ballot. Mr J. R. Nash, a grandson of the late Sir Walter Nash, was elected to the Taupo Borough Council. CLOSE FINISHES In Auckland, Citizens and Ratepayers’ Association candidates filled the top 18 places in the City Council poll. Three Labour candidates were returned, but one, Mr A. J. R. Dreaver, a council- ' lor since 1953, might not win his seat when special votes are counted. One of the new Labour candidates is Mrs C. A. Tizard. wife of Mr R. J. Tizard, M.P. for Pakuranga. A Citizens and Ratepayers’ newcomer to the council is the former Minister of Broadcasting, Mr A. E. Kinsella. The chairman of the Auckland Regional Authority, Mr T. H. Pearce, was re-elected on a slightly smaller vote than Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, who topped the authority poll. In Dunedin Mr Barnes increased his majority from just over 3000 to 5123, but even though Labour representation on the city council also slipped from five to four, there does not appear to have been a swing against Labour.

Election details: Pages 2 and 3