Daran Mark Ponter (born 20 February 1968) is a New Zealand local-body politician who on the 30th of October 2019 succeeded Chris Laidlaw as the chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Biography

Early life

Ponter was born in

Kitwe Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...

in Zambia's Central Province, Zambia. Soon after his birth his family relocated to

Birmingham, United Kingdom Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West Mi ...

and then to Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1973 they moved to

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

where he attended Veiuto Primary School. Arriving in New Zealand in 1980, Ponter attended Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, followed by Palmerston North Boys High School. He was an American Field Service exchange student to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1985/86. He studied sociology and geography at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. He was a Massey scholar in 1989. After graduation he obtained a Masters of Public Policy from Victoria University of Wellington. Before politics he worked as a regional planner in the Bay of Plenty and public policy adviser in various ministries in Wellington, most notably Te Puni Kōkiri. Later, he established and continues to run an independent public policy consultancy with his wife Vickie. Between 2000 and 2004 Ponter was instrumental in leading the establishment of the Maori Television Service for Te Puni Kokiri. Ponter has worked on seven Treaty of Waitangi settlements, including the settlement for the Waikato River and the Port Nicholson Block settlement in Wellington. He also led the negotiation of seven regional aquaculture agreements to recognise Maori commercial interests in aquaculture. In 2000 he was private secretary to Parekura Horomia,

Minister for Maori Development Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, and in 2018, private secretary to Nanaia Mahuta,

Political career

Ponter first stood for office in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

where he unsuccessfully contested a seat on the Wellington Regional Council as part of the Labour Party ticket. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

he stood for the Wellington City Council in the Eastern Ward, but was again unsuccessful. He was first elected to the regional council in 2010 serving until 2013 when he failed to secure re-election. However he was appointed a council member again in April 2016 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former chairperson Fran Wilde. He was re-elected for two further terms in both 2016 and 2019. Following the 2019 elections he was elected chairperson of the council unopposed. In May 2020, the regional council confirmed all fares would be fully subsidised until the end of June, making all train and bus journeys free.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponter, Daran 1968 births Living people Zambian emigrants to New Zealand Massey University alumni 21st-century New Zealand politicians People from Kitwe People from Wellington City Victoria University of Wellington alumni Wellington regional councillors New Zealand Labour Party politicians