Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.
Sir Mark James Todd is a New Zealand horseman noted for his accomplishments in the discipline of eventing, voted Rider of the 20th century by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
Dame Kerry Leigh Prendergast was the 33rd Mayor of Wellington between 2001 and 2010, succeeding Mark Blumsky. She was the second woman to hold the position, after Fran Wilde.
Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He is the Mayor of Invercargill and was previously Mayor of Waitemata City.
Michael James Bowie Hobbs, generally known as Jock Hobbs, was a New Zealand rugby union player and administrator. A flanker, he played for Canterbury and won 21 caps for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, between 1983 and 1986, with four tests as captain.
Colin McDonald King is a New Zealand politician who first entered Parliament in 2005. In late 2013, he lost the National Party selection process for the Kaikōura electorate for the 2014 general election.
Emily Sarah Gaddum is a former New Zealand field hockey player. One of the country's most experienced players, she was due to finish her career after her fourth Olympic appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but her retirement due to pregnancy was announced when the 2016 Olympic squad was named.
Norman Philip Hastings Jones was a New Zealand National Party politician, who represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament.
Keith Quinn is an author, and one of New Zealand's most experienced television sports commentators.
Patric Denis O'Brien, commonly known as Paddy O'Brien, is a New Zealand international rugby union referee, and former head of the International Rugby Board's Referee Board.
Hamish Byron Bond is a New Zealand rower and former road cyclist. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. He has won six consecutive World Rowing Championships gold medals in the coxless pair and has set two world best times in the coxless and coxed pair, which as of 2021 still stand as the world's best times in those boat classes. He made a successful transition from rowing to road cycling after the 2016 Summer Olympics focussing on the road time trial. He returned to rowing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, winning a gold medal in the men's eight.
David Charles Cull was the mayor of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. He became the 57th Mayor of Dunedin in October 2010 and was re-elected in both the 2013 mayoralty race and 2016 mayoral election. Before politics, he was a presenter for Television New Zealand and an author.
The Mayor of Invercargill is the head of the municipal government of Invercargill, New Zealand, and presides over the Invercargill City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The current mayor is Tim Shadbolt, who is also the longest-serving mayor for Invercargill. There have been 43 mayors so far.
Frana Grace Cardno was a New Zealand local-body politician. She served as Mayor of Southland District from 1992 until 2013, becoming the longest-serving female mayor in New Zealand's history.
Nathan Phillip Cohen is a New Zealand rower. He is a two-time world champion, and won a gold medal in the Olympics. In 2006, rowing a single scull, he won a gold medal at the World University Games. In doing so, he became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at the World University Games in any sport. Cohen and his rowing partner, Joseph Sullivan, won back-to-back gold medals in the men's double sculls at both the 2010 and 2011 World Rowing Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he and his partner won the gold medal in the men's double sculls, after breaking the Olympic best time in the heats. In 2013, Cohen was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to rowing.
Nikita Stevie Howarth is a New Zealand para-cyclist and para-swimmer. She became New Zealand's youngest ever Paralympian after being selected for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, aged 13 years 8 months. She again represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where she won the gold medal in the women's 200 metre individual medley SM7 and the bronze medal in the women's 50 metre butterfly S7.
Sir William Te Rangiua "Pou" Temara is a New Zealand Māori academic. He is professor of Te Reo, Tikanga and Philosophy at Waikato University and a cultural authority on whaikōrero (oratory), whakapapa (genealogy) and karakia. Prior to working at Waikato, he taught at Victoria University of Wellington and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
Eve Poole was a New Zealand politician who served as Mayor of Invercargill from 1983 until her death in 1992. She was the first woman and Jew to hold this position.
Irwin Lloyd Esler is a New Zealand natural history teacher and former Invercargill City Councillor.
Penelope Elsie Simmonds is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party. She previously served as the chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology.
