A Tauranga election hopeful who spent time in prison for importing drugs says he’s learned from his mistakes and wants to use his story to advocate for accountability and change.

Ashley Hillis is standing for Tauranga City Council’s first Māori ward, Te Awanui, alongside Mikare Sydney and Suaree Borell.

Hillis, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent, is open about his “colourful background” and says he hopes to be an example showing people can reform and grow.

In 2016, a then-22-year-old Hillis was convicted of importing ecstasy off the dark web. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison. 

He says he served two-and-a-half months inside, and five-and-a-half months on home detention, then eight months of post-detention conditions.

Eight years on, the 29-year-old works as a steel fabricator.

He tells the Bay of Plenty Times he has thought about standing for Tauranga City Council for a long time and always “put it off”, but his recent work on city projects such as the Tunks Reserve upgrade crystalised the idea.

“I considered not nominating because my age and background from my past might hold me back in that regard. But I think that it’s important to acknowledge that part of moving forward is confronting your past and confronting what you’ve done and owning up and being accountable.”

His offending involved ordering 10g of ecstasy powder online to be sent to his house. He received an envelope from the Netherlands containing the drug, which he consumed.

He accessed the same website twice more for other orders but Customs intercepted these.

At the time, Hillis told police he got the idea to import the drugs from watching a television programme, and says he deeply regrets his actions.

Hillis had two prior drug convictions, including selling cannabis, but his lawyer argued at the time the ecstasy was for personal use.

Looking back at his 22-year-old self, Hillis says he was in a dark place and looking for something to help him have a “good time”.

“At the time it really didn’t feel criminal,” he says.

“It just felt like I was punching keys behind a computer and then it wasn’t until the police were knocking at my door and had raided my house and had come to arrest me that I, really realised the gravity of what I was doing … [it was] very sobering.”

Time in prison forced Hillis to reevaluate his life, and his judgment of people.

“I haven’t lived a rough criminal life or anything like that. For me, this whole experience was so frightening,” he says.

He says he got through it with the support of his family and experiences of “humble, kind care from people”, including in prison.

“I’m here now, so much more of a better person for it.

“Once you get to the bottom, there’s no way to look but up and that’s the truth.”

Hillis hopes to use his campaign to advocate for change “and doing better with your life and not holding yourself back by limitations of the past”.

He says he's “never going back” to prison.

“I know that I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’m here to be transparent about what I’ve done and own what I’ve done and move on. And Tauranga, some may say, also needs to move on … we’re in quite a transformative time.”

Hillis says he has not attended council meetings but regularly watches online.

Transport infrastructure and housing are his biggest concerns.

“This is my tūrangawaewae. I just want to see the city thrive again, like it did when I was young.”

On how he will advocate for Māori if elected as Tauranga’s first Māori ward councillor, Hillis says: “I think that good results for all are best results for Māori”.

“So lowered rates, easier to get into homes, and stuff like that because gentrification remains an issue, especially as we look at intensification. How can we ensure that we’re socially responsible with our housing, too, in order to not push people out of their turangawaewae, their rohe (territory of tribes)?”

Ashley Hillis says he hopes to show accountability and transparency in his campaign in the Tauranga election. Photo / Alex Cairns.

Hillis believes in kotahitanga (unity) and intended to join Te Pati Māori protest march on Hewletts Rd last month but became stuck in traffic.

Despite supporting the cause, he feels there could be better, less disruptive, ways to communicate a message. He hopes to exemplify this by becoming a councillor.

He says Māori wards are beneficial as they bring a Māori voice for things pertaining to mana whenua and tikanga.

“The best outcomes for Māori are best outcomes for all of us – much in the same [way] that best outcomes for all are best outcomes for Māori because [there are an estimated] 16,000 people on the Māori roll, that means there are 16,000 people, at minimum, here that identify as Māori and their views should be considered too.”

The coalition Government plans to reinstate legislation allowing five per cent of voters to reverse council decisions allowing for Māori wards passed its first reading. If successful, the reversal will not impact Tauranga City until 2028, when the next elections will be held.

Hillis says he's not sure if the ward will survive long-term given “the usual sentiment of Tauranga” but hopes that's changing.

Asked to elaborate, Hillis says he believes the city has previously been “pretty conservative” towards “all things, Māori, all things Māoritanga”.

“It’s been a hard sell.”

Hillis says people need to vote, even if it's not for him, describing the other two ward candidates as “great people”.

“I would be happy for either of them to win, but I want people to feel empowered by the idea that this is their voice and that’s done at the ballot.”

On his most recent blog, Hillis offered a whakatauki (Māori proverb) that perhaps summed up his situation best.

E more te pātiki e hoki ki tōna puehu - the flounder does not return to the mud it has stirred.

-Bay of Plenty Times.