Susan O'Regan | |
---|---|
5th Mayor of Waipa | |
Assumed office 2022 | |
Preceded by | Jim Mylchreest |
Personal details | |
Born | Susan Catherine O'Regan 26 April 1972 Rukuhia,New Zealand |
Political party | National |
Spouse | John Hayward |
Parent(s) | Katherine O'Regan Neil O'Regan |
Alma mater | University of Otago |
Susan Catherine O'Regan (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician serving as the mayor of Waipa since 2022.
O'Regan was born and raised in Rukuhia. Her mother was Katherine O'Regan,a National MP who represented Waipa. She boarded at Waikato Diocesan School in Hamilton [1] and King's College in Auckland,and later graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts. She briefly worked for Murray McCully as a ministerial assistant in parliament before starting a legal career in Auckland, [2] being admitted to the bar in 1996. [3] After marrying a farmer,she ended her legal career in 2010 to focus on family and farming. [4] Their farm,Judge Valley Dairies,has won multiple awards at the Waikato Farm Environment Awards. [5] [6]
O'Regan was asked to run for the Taranaki-King Country electorate in the 2014 election after Shane Ardern announced his retirement,but she turned it down after becoming pregnant. In 2016,she was elected to the Kakepuku ward of the Waipa District Council. [7] She was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and chaired the council's Strategic Planning and Policy Committee. [8] [9]
In April 2022,O'Regan announced that despite speculation that she would run for mayor like her mother had in 1995, [10] she was retiring from politics to work for DairyNZ. She also ruled out contesting the parliamentary by-election for Tauranga,an electorate her mother had unsuccessfully run for twice after her own Waipa seat was abolished. [11] However,in June she changed her mind,staking her political career on an "all or nothing" campaign for mayor. [3] In October,she defeated the incumbent Jim Mylchreest,becoming the first female mayor of the district and the first to oust an incumbent. [1]
Waikato is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District,Waipa District,Matamata-Piako District,South Waikato District and Hamilton City,as well as Hauraki,Coromandel Peninsula,the northern King Country,much of the TaupōDistrict,and parts of Rotorua District. It is governed by the Waikato Regional Council.
Cambridge is a town in the Waipa District of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated 24 kilometres (15 mi) southeast of Hamilton,on the banks of the Waikato River,Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees &Champions". The town has a population of 21,600,making it the largest town in the Waipa District,and the third largest urban area in the Waikato.
Ngāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and WaipāRivers,adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton Urban Area,the fourth largest urban area in New Zealand. The location was once considered as a potential capital of New Zealand.
Franklin District was a New Zealand territorial authority that lay between the Auckland metropolitan area and the Waikato Plains. As a formal territory,it was abolished on 31 October 2010 and divided between Auckland Council in the Auckland Region to the north and Waikato and Hauraki districts in the Waikato region to the south and east. The Auckland portion is now part of the Franklin Ward,which also includes rural parts of the former Manukau City.
Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Hamilton on State Highway 3,one of the two main routes south from Auckland and Hamilton.
The WaipāRiver is in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. The headwaters are in the Rangitoto Range east of Te Kuiti. It flows north for 115 kilometres (71 mi),passing through Ōtorohanga and Pirongia,before flowing into the Waikato River at Ngāruawāhia. It is the Waikato's largest tributary. The Waipā's main tributary is the Puniu River.
Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) south of Hamilton and 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Te Kūiti,on the WaipāRiver. It is a service town for the surrounding dairy-farming district. It is recognised as the "gateway" to the Waitomo Caves and as the "Kiwiana Town" of New Zealand. Until 2007,Ōtorohanga held a yearly 'Kiwiana Festival.'
Katherine Victoria O'Regan was a New Zealand politician. She was a member of parliament from 1984 to 1999,representing the National Party. She served as a minister for the National Government for six of those years.
Te Kauwhata is a small town in the north of the Waikato region of New Zealand,situated close to the western shore of Lake Waikare,some 40 km north of Hamilton and approximately 58 km south of Manukau City.
Dorothy Catherine Jelicich was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. She served one term in the House of Representatives representing the Hamilton West electorate,and was afterwards a city councillor in Hamilton and then Manukau.
WaipāDistrict Council is the territorial authority for the WaipāDistrict of New Zealand.
Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa was a New Zealand Māori tohunga raranga of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kinohaku descent. At the time of her death she was regarded as New Zealand's most renowned weaver.
Whatawhata,previously also spelt Whata Whata,is a small town in the Waikato region on the east bank of the WaipāRiver,at the junction of State Highways 23 and 39,12 km (7.5 mi) from Hamilton. Te Araroa tramping route passes through Whatawhata.
Te Awamutu was a temporary terminus,serving the border town of Te Awamutu,on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) in New Zealand from 1880,when the line was extended from Ōhaupō,until 1887,when the line was extended south to Ōtorohanga.
The 2019 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections to select local government officials and district health board members. Under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001,a "general election of members of every local authority or community board must be held on the second Saturday in October in every third year" from the date the Act came into effect in 2001,meaning 12 October 2019.
The mayor of Waipā officiates over the Waipa District of New Zealand's North Island. There have been five mayors since the formation of WaipāDistrict in 1989. The incumbent mayor is Susan O'Regan,who was elected on 8 October 2022.
The 1998 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of New Zealand,on the advice of the New Zealand government,to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders,and to celebrate the passing of 1997 and the beginning of 1998. They were announced on 31 December 1997.
Te Miro is an area in the Waipa District of the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Te Miro is situated 31 kilometres east southeast of Hamilton,and 24 kilometres northeast of Cambridge. Te Miro has a population of approximately 500.
The 2022 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections held in New Zealand on Saturday 8 October 2022. Voting began by postal vote on 16 September and ended at noon on 8 October 2022.
The 2022 Tauranga by-election for the New Zealand House of Representatives was held on 18 June 2022 in the Tauranga electorate,after the sitting member,former National Party leader Simon Bridges,resigned from parliament. The National Party's Sam Uffindell won the by-election in a landslide result,ahead of the Labour Party's Jan Tinetti.