Lee is one of five re-elected general ward councillors, along with Wang, Kai Fong, Brown and Paterson, with Sandford newly elected.
Temara-Benfell is now the council’s youngest councillor, but is joined in the Māori ward by the experience of Raukawa-Tait and New Zealand’s longest-serving councillor, Maxwell.
Barker was re-elected to the rural ward unopposed and rounds out the list of councillors for the next three years.
Lee said: “I’m delighted to have been entrusted by the Rotorua voters to continue the job.”
It was a “very competitive” race for council.
Robert Lee and Tania Tapsell at a candidate forum evening at Waiariki FC clubrooms. Photo / Mathew Nash
“There were some very good candidates who ran for council, a real contest,” he said, before congratulating the new electees.
“I look forward to working with them all. It will be a nice little refresh.”
Lee’s campaign courted controversy, with Tapsell admitting she wanted him out and the council having his campaign video pulled from YouTube on a copyright claim.
He has already held meetings with Tapsell, Kai Fong and chief executive Andrew Moraes and said they intended to “work constructively” for the people of Rotorua.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait has returned to Rotorua Lakes Council.
Raukawa-Tait returns to the council table having lost her seat after 11 years in 2022.
She said she’d had to “sit tight” this week, to see if her close lead over Waru held, but she was now “very pleased to be back”.
She hoped for a “cohesive council” with a “clear vision” that was evident to the general public.
She also praised her fellow Māori ward electees, the “very keen” Temara-Benfell and “truly beloved” Maxwell.
Conan O’Brien has lost his seat. Photo / Laura Smith
O’Brien wished the new council “every success”.
“It’s really important we support them, because if they succeed, Rotorua succeeds,” he said.
He recognised the previous council had, in his view, “walked into quite a bit of a mess” but believed they had left it in a “better position” after three years.
Waru also missed out after one term. He wished the new councillors luck and backed them to get through “challenging times” ahead.
Rawiri Waru is also gone. Photo / Laura Smith
He said he would “miss it”, but the referendum on Māori wards was his big ticket from the election. Rotorua voted to retain Māori wards by a margin of 2856 votes.
“I’m just happy the ward’s still in place and that people get a chance to stand,” he said.
Campaign newcomer Angus admitted she was “gutted” to miss out but was “really proud” of her campaign.
Philly Angus. Photo / File
“I really wanted to be around the table, for our people and for our beautiful city, but it wasn’t to be.”
She believed her skill set was “exactly what the city needs” and said “never say never” to potentially running again in 2028.
Voter turnout was 43.27%, down on 2022’s total of 46.46%.
Rotorua Lakes Council – Final results
Mayor
Tania Tapsell
General ward
Fisher Wang
Sandra Kai Fong
Ben Sandford
Gregg Brown
Don Paterson
Robert Lee
Māori ward
Te Rika Temara-Benfell
Trevor Maxwell
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait
Rural ward
Karen Barker
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.