“Fearless” and award-winning Māori musician Ria Hall is running for the Tauranga mayoralty.

“I know myself enough to know that I can be that voice and be a new, fresh injection into a space that has not seen a face like mine ever before,” she says.

Born and raised in Tauranga, Ria would be the city’s first Māori woman elected mayor, if successful.

She's also standing for a councillor seat for Pāpāmoa ward and has former Justice Minister and East Coast MP Kiri Allan as her campaign manager.

The 40-year-old tells the Bay of Plenty Times she's partly inspired to run by seeing other young Māori mayors elected, such as Moko Tepania in the Far North and Tania Tapsell in Rotorua – as well as by watching meetings of the last elected council before it was sacked.

Of Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga descent, Ria she aspires to provide a progressive, collaborative direction to leave a better and more inclusive Tauranga for future generations.

She's been described as a “fearless” artist.

She released her debut self-titled album in 2011 and has since won multiple awards including Waiata Māori Music Awards’ Best Māori Female Artist.

Her 2017 concept album Rules of Engagement was heavily based on the New Zealand Wars, particularly the Battle of Gate Pā in Tauranga.

The album debuted on the New Zealand music charts at number one.

Her television work includes presenting Marae DIY and appearing on The Masked Singer.

Ria says it's unfair to write her off as “only a singer”.

Over the past five years, she says, she has focused on raising her three children — Te Rongotoa, 5, Hikareia, 3, Paiātehau, 2 —and studying political science.

“There are so many parts to a person . . . So, while I am a singer and an artist, a songwriter, I’m also a curator, a producer. I also come from a communications background and strategic development thinking.

“I articulate myself well, I present well, I communicate well . . . So there’s all of those things to me so that I can add value to in chambers.”

Asked how she would deal with potential political vitriol, she said people would make up their own minds about “how they see me”.

“And that’s completely fine because people are people, they have their own set of values and their own systems, their own belief systems.”

“However, for me, I’m really interested in feeling and hearing and seeing what else is out there in our community because I know deep within my puku [stomach] that there are so many people that want to see something different, something new come to the fore, a fresh way of thinking, a new way of being.”

Her whānau know it's a “matter of not if but when” she ran and she says their support will help her balance the mayoralty with motherhood.

“This is the right time to put my hand up.”

‘There’s a better way’

Ria says she’s “always been civically minded” and wants to serve people and communities.

She says she attended Tauranga City Council meetings before then-Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta sacked the elected members in 2020. She has not attended any during the term of the commissioners appointed to replace them.

Ria recalls watching a council meeting and forming the view that, “these people aren’t communicating in a way that’s mana-enhancing.”

Ria Hall in 2022 ahead of her performance with the NZ Symphony Orchestra in Tauranga. Photo / Mead Norton.

“How do we keep it at a level that we can communicate effectively with each other and respect each other at the same time?

“I believe there’s a better way …”

Asked whether Mahuta made the right decision, Ria says she's not keen to relitigate the past and is focused on “what we can do here and now for the future”.

Her priorities are addressing the city’s housing crisis, “smart” infrastructure and transport investment decisions, creating a more connected and inclusive community, holistic economic management, community-led decision-making and championing the arts.

“There is an amazing opportunity to bring life, vitality and energy back into our city [through] the arts.”

She wants to introduce citizens’ assemblies to create opportunities “for our communities to have their say”.

“We’ve got so many people that live here in Tauranga and so many specific sets of voices and everyone deserves to be heard and everyone should be heard because we are the makeup of Tauranga now and into the future.”

All eyes on Tauranga

Tauranga’s election being held out of sync with the rest of the country means “all eyes are on Tauranga”, which Ria says will give people “a chance to see it and engage better”.

“I’m really hoping that that’s the case here — that they will see me, hear my voice, hear what I stand for, what my values are and people that might not normally engage, will want to engage with this process.

“If that’s the only joy that I get out of this campaign, I’ve already won …”

Ria Hall pictured in 2017, before performing a dawn waterfront chorus to celebrate the 10th Tauranga Arts Festival.

Those elected this year will serve for four years instead of three before Tauranga rejoins the national election cycle in 2028.

Ria says her values are “community, collaboration, and connection”.

“I think those are really powerful drivers to creating, as I’ve said earlier, social cohesion, understanding, bringing people together and creating a Tauranga that we actually deserve to live in and our tamariki deserve as well.”

She wants to pay homage to other young Māori mayors such as Far North’s Tepania, elected at 31, Wellington’s Tory Whanau, 41, and especially Tapsell — elected in Rotorua in 2022 aged 30.

“I think it takes a lot to put your hand up. I’m not under any illusion that this is not something that’s not big, because it really, really is.”

Looking forward

Ria believes Tauranga residents have wanted change in city leadership “for a long time”.

“People have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for something to happen and now this is the opportunity.”

Asked what her biggest challenge in life has been and how that’s prepared her for running a city, Ria's reply: “Becoming a mother”.

“I’ve taken the peaks and troughs of motherhood in my stride and I am raising a beautiful little family that is really setting me up in my thinking process, but also in the way that I move with my heart.”

“You know that it’s authentic if they’re putting their heart on their sleeve …

“We need authentic people at the helm.”

Ria says some may feel trepidation about standing for council because of previous incidents or perceptions but “this is going to be like a dream come true for me”.

“I’m really excited about it. It’s gonna be an awesome journey.”

-Bay of Plenty Times.