In our cover story, DAVID PORTER profiles Tauranga’s new mayor Mahé Drysdale. The former elite rower has leveraged his high profile as an international elite sportsman – and his connections with the city – to succeed in taking up his new and challenging role.
When elite sportsman Mahé Drysdale won Tauranga’s mayoral election in 2024, he knew there was a lot of work to be done. And he pledged to put his experience from his success in world-class rowing events to full effect.
“It’s a team of 10,” he told BoP PLENTY magazine in describing the new council. He was emphasising the differences between the new council and the dysfunction that plagued the previous regime.
The dismissal of the old council was announced by the minister of local government for the former Labour government, in December 2020. The Commission took up its role in early February 2021 and was reappointed in 2022 for a further term, until July 2024. The Commission’s role ended with the new elections that month.
Drysdale emphasised that one of the key lessons he brought with him from his successful rowing career was that – despite appearances sometimes to the contrary – it wasn’t a sport of individuals.
Drysdale knows about success and freely acknowledged his high profile could have helped his successful start in politics. He is a multiple winner of world championships and a double Olympic gold medallist, retiring from world competition in 2021.
Competition key to success
“Obviously what I’ve achieved in my sporting career is a help because it suggests I’m someone who knows how to succeed,” he said.
“But at Rowing New Zealand, a big key to our success was competition throughout my career,” he said. “I always had training partners. We were out there every day competing against each other in training.
“It’s the team aspect of getting the right people around you.”
Drysdale noted that although there were a number of rowing crews, the rowers very much saw themselves as part of the Rowing NZ team.
“For me that was about 10 or so people – the coach, masseuse, physio, doctor, physiologist, etc. They were there every single day, working together to get the best out of you,” he said.
“I raced by myself, but my success depended on a number of people. They are very much part of that team and, while we pushed against each other every day, we ultimately made each other better.”
Need for teamwork
Drysdale noted that, while it was the voters who chose the current council rather than him personally, there was also a wider team to consider, including council staff as well as central government politicians. And they all need to work together to deliver.
“My immediate priority has been getting that (council) team around the table and working together to have a strong unit so we can actually go out and achieve,” he said. “That was very much my (campaign) tag line ‘Team of 10’.”
Drysdale said he believed the team that had been formed by the council around the table is a good one.
“We’ve got complementary skills, and we bring this new lens (to issues).”
New approaches needed
The council needs to be prepared to try new approaches, he said.
Drysdale said his introduction to the sport of rowing came about many years ago when he wanted to compete in a Dunedin tournament which had a novice event he could actually enter, despite being inexperienced. He then spent two years rowing before ‘letting it go’ to become a spectator of the sport for a couple more years.
He was re-inspired by watching elite Kiwi rower Rob Waddell succeed. “He was about the same size as me,” said Drysdale, and Waddell’s example and success inspired him to re-embrace the sport.
Drysdale was also inspired to an extent in entering politics by the fact that his late grandfather Bob Owens was a former mayor of Tauranga and businessman.
“I was never really aware of politics when I was growing up,” said Drysdale. “But I was always interested in politics from a high level – interested in the issues and what people were doing and why they were making their decisions.”
Making a difference
Drysdale said that when he retired from international sporting competition, the world was in the throes of Covid.
My immediate priority has been getting that (council) team around the table and working together to have a strong unit so we can actually go out and achieve.”
“I was quite interested in politics,” said Drysdale, who eventually qualified as a financial planner.
“I thought I could do a better job in politics than some people,” he said. “That wasn’t egotistical – I just thought I could do this. But I didn’t think I could make a meaningful difference ‘then’. So I parked that idea and went on to become a financial advisor.”
Then the opportunity to stand in Tauranga’s latest council elections came up, he said.
“That was really the catalyst for me. I could make a meaningful difference in this city, with the proviso that I got the right team around me.”
Drysdale, who originally went to school in Tauranga, said the city was obviously on the rise.
“There’s a lot happening and I really want to be part of that.”
Drysdale said his impression on entering the job was that the city’s people were wanting something new.
“It’s a fantastic city, but there have been a lot of bad news stories,” he said. “There’s been real dysfunction and an inability (of councillors) to get on and just make decisions. The change with the commissioners was they got in and started getting things done.”
On talking with local people, Drysdale said he sensed that they really wanted to see the city succeed.
“And that’s where they saw a new opportunity with someone who’s pretty young and energetic and really wants to deliver for the city – so let’s give him a go.”
Drysdale said he believed Tauranga had an exciting future, with the biggest port in the country helping drive New Zealand’s economy.
“We have an opportunity with a growing city, and clear housing and infrastructure needs,” he said. And the (central) government has indicated that it needs people who can start delivering, he added.
The government wants to address the country’s housing shortfall, and show that by investing in infrastructure, it could grow our economy.
“And Tauranga is set to be in the perfect position to do that,” he said.
