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 Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, p ...

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 Central Province is one of Zambia's ten Provinces of Zambia, provinces. The provincial capital is Kabwe, which is the home of the Mulungushi Rock of Authority. Central Province has an area of . It borders eight other provinces and has eleven dis ...

. Soon after his birth his family relocated to

Birmingham, United Kingdom Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and then to

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...

. In 1973 they moved to

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous 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 Rew ...

Fiji Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

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 AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...

exchange student to

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in 1985/86. He studied sociology and geography at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

. He was a Massey scholar in 1989. After graduation he obtained a Masters of Public Policy from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. Before politics he worked as a regional planner in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

and public policy adviser in various ministries in Wellington, most notably

Te Puni Kōkiri Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK, also called in English the Ministry of Māori Development) is the principal policy advisor of the Government of New Zealand on Māori people, Māori wellbeing and development. Te Puni Kōkiri was established under the Māor ...

. 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, and in 2018, private secretary to Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Maori Development.

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

where he unsuccessfully contested a seat on the

Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, p ...

as part of the Labour Party ticket. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

he stood for the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

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 Dame Frances Helen Wilde (née Kitching, born 11 November 1948) is a New Zealand politician, and former Wellington Labour member of parliament, Minister of Tourism and Mayor of Wellington. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Welling ...

. 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 Politicians from Wellington City Victoria University of Wellington alumni Wellington regional councillors New Zealand Labour Party politicians