Rob Scott to stand for Southland District mayoralty in 2022

Tuesday, 17 August 2021

Southland District councillor Rob Scott says he will stand for the mayoralty at the October 2022 local body elections.

The Southland District mayor and deputy mayor have both ruled out standing for re-election in the 2022 local body elections - but another councillor, Rob Scott, has declared he wants the top job.

Gary Tong, who has been mayor for eight years, has confirmed he will not be standing for the mayoralty next October, and his deputy Ebel Kremer has done likewise.

Kremer had planned to go for the job, but on Tuesday said he had decided to step aside from local body politics, for personal reasons, at the next election in October 2022.

However, Scott, a first term councillor from Lumsden, said he would be standing for the mayoralty.

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Southland District deputy mayor Ebel Kremer says he won’t stand for re-election in 2022.

Scott, 41, a married man with two children aged 11 and six, said it felt right.

“I always go with my gut in life, and the more I thought about the whole concept of it, it felt right.”

It was a huge opportunity, the timing was right and there were lots of challenges ahead for local government, he said.

Scott served three terms on the Lumsden Community Board before being elected onto the council in 2019, so had an understanding of how the local government process worked, he said.

Southland District Mayor Gary Tong says he won’t stand for re-election in 2022.

The Government had indicated change was afoot for local Government and the Southland District Council needed to be prepared for that, he said.

“It’s vital we have a really good voice to ensure we get the right model going forward … and it suits our province”.

He moved from Wellington to Lumsden in 2006 after falling in love with the province.

The people, the landscape and the cost of living all attracted him south, he said.

“The area really appealed and I haven’t looked back since I came down,” said the owner of Route 6 cafe and the Canvart printing business, both in Lumsden.

“It’s such a cool piece of the world and I want to do whatever I can to ensure Southland realises its full potential, but without losing that charm that is Southland.”

Kremer, from Te Anau, confirmed he had planned to run for the mayoralty until recently.

“That’s why I accepted Gary’s offer to become his deputy, and that was certainly part of the long term plan [to stand for the mayoralty when Tong stood down].

The decision not to stand, made with his wife, was for personal reasons and was “nothing untoward”, Kremer said.

“The reason I am announcing it now is it provides time for someone else to consider if they want to be a councillor for the Mararoa Waimea ward, or stand for the mayor’s position … it takes time to get yourself organised if you want to run a campaign.”

Kremer had been a “very active” councillor for the past six years and said it had been rewarding representing the Southland community and helping people achieve their goals.

He had always enjoyed the robust discussions around the council table and had a good professional relationship with council staff and community boards, he said.

The Southland district had come through some hard times during the Covid-19 period and still faced challenges, including with roading, bridges and the three waters programmes, but he believed both the council and district was in good stead to deal with those challenges.

He wouldn’t miss the Local Government Act which prevented decisions from being made in a timely manner, thus hindering progress for both councils and ratepayers, he said.