A long-time broadcaster, sports commentator, and former councillor, Laban has been a visible advocate for inclusion, youth opportunity, and safer communities across the Wellington region.<\/p>\n
He is also the only Pasifika mayoral candidate to have been successfully elected in this year\u2019s local elections.<\/p>\n
Also in Hutt City, Mele Tonga-Grant won a council seat in the at-large race by a margin of just one vote, 7759 to 7758 over independent candidate Kath McGuinness, one of the tightest results in the country.<\/p>\n
The result remains provisional, with preliminary results due on Monday and the final count, including special votes, to be confirmed on Friday.<\/p>\n
In the Hutt Valley, Pacific representation also continues at the community level. In the Wainuiomata Community Board election, Lesa Bingley (independent) received 2264 votes, followed by Vatau Sagaga with 2097 and Lahraine Sagaga (independent) with 1914.<\/p>\n
Porirua<\/p>\n
In neighbouring Porirua, Kylie Wihapi (M\u0101ori ward) and Izzy Ford (Onepoto general ward) have both been re-elected as city councillors, the incumbent councillors from the previous term. <\/p>\n
Both are community advocates known for their work in health, housing, and youth empowerment.<\/p>\n
Dunedin<\/p>\n
In \u014ctepoti, Marie Laufiso (Building Kotahitaka) has been re-elected to the Dunedin City Council. <\/p>\n
First elected in 2016, Laufiso has chaired several council committees, including community services, grants, and the social wellbeing advisory group. <\/p>\n
Nelson<\/p>\n
In Nelson, Matty Anderson (independent), who is of Niuean and P\u0101keh\u0101 heritage, has been re-elected to the central ward alongside Lisa Austin, Pete Rainey and James Hodgson. <\/p>\n
A former Navy serviceman and community advocate, Anderson has worked across disability, youth, Pacific, migrant and homelessness support. <\/p>\n
Waitaki<\/p>\n
In \u014camaru, Mata\u2019aga Hana Melania Fanene-Taiti has been elected to the Waitaki District Council, representing the \u014camaru ward. <\/p>\n
A New Zealand-born Samoan with family ties to Vaiee, Moata\u2019a and Saleimoa in Samoa, she holds the matai title Mata\u2019aga from her mother\u2019s village of Vaiee. <\/p>\n
National significance<\/p>\n
The 2025 local elections have seen a rise in Pasifika representation across Aotearoa, with both returning leaders and new candidates elected to councils nationwide.<\/p>\n
Laban\u2019s election as New Zealand\u2019s first Pacific mayor marks a significant milestone in local government, reflecting the growing participation of Pasifika communities in civic life.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s progress results indicate a tight race for several seats. Preliminary results will be released on Monday, with final results confirmed on Friday once the special votes have been counted.<\/p>\n
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n
\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A long-time broadcaster, sports commentator, and former councillor, Laban has been a visible advocate for inclusion, youth opportunity,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[57424,806,1888,1861,49947,57422,57423,2513,5338,7052,10934,111,43,139,69,1118,31445],"class_list":{"0":"post-72976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-afemata","9":"tag-as","10":"tag-first","11":"tag-history","12":"tag-hutt","13":"tag-ken","14":"tag-laban","15":"tag-lower","16":"tag-makes","17":"tag-mary","18":"tag-mayor","19":"tag-new-zealand","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-newzealand","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-of","24":"tag-pasifika"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}