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Paul Eagle

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Paul Eagle
MP
Eagle in 2020
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Rongotai
In office
23 September 2017 – 14 October 2023
Preceded byAnnette King
Succeeded byJulie Anne Genter
25th Deputy Mayor of Wellington
In office
26 October 2016 – 27 September 2017
MayorJustin Lester
Preceded byJustin Lester
Succeeded byJill Day
Wellington City Councillor for the Southern Ward
In office
9 October 2010 – 27 September 2017
Serving with David Lee (2013–2017) Bryan Pepperell (2010–2013)
Preceded byCelia Wade-Brown
Succeeded byFleur Fitzsimons
Personal details
Born (1972-01-10) 10 January 1972 (age 52)
Political partyLabour
SpouseMiriam Eagle
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Auckland

Tahere Paul Eagle[1] (born 10 January 1972) is a New Zealand politician and former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Rongotai electorate from 2017 to 2023. He was a Wellington City Councillor from 2010 to 2017 and was the first person of Māori descent to be Deputy Mayor of Wellington,[2] but was defeated in a landslide when he sought the mayoralty as an independent candidate in 2022.[3]

Early life and career

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Eagle was adopted by a Methodist minister and his wife, a hospital worker.[4] Eagle has kept contact with his birth mother who told him she couldn't keep him due to the lack of a domestic purposes benefit. When Eagle was five, his adoptive father ran for the Mt Eden Borough Council as a candidate for the Labour Party, a race in which he was ultimately unsuccessful.[5] When he was aged 12 the family relocated to Wellington, where he became socially and politically active and agitated against the 1981 Springbok tour.[4]

Eagle was educated first at Wellington High School and then at St. Patrick's College in Wellington, where he showed an aptitude for art, leading him to study the subject at the Elam School of Fine Arts and the University of Auckland. He graduated with a postgraduate diploma in fine arts from the University of Auckland in 1996.[6] He found employment in the desktop publishing design profession before working for Wellington City Council, Manukau City Council, Sport and Recreation New Zealand and the Ministry of Economic Development, mostly in event management roles.[4][7][8] He later worked for the New Zealand Police as a civilian in the Māori, Pacific and ethnic team.[4]

Political career

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Wellington City Council

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Eagle was first elected as a Labour Party candidate to the southern ward of Wellington City Council in 2010, replacing long-time Green Party councillor Celia Wade-Brown who was that year elected mayor.[9] Eagle was re-elected in 2013[10] and in 2016 with increased majorities.[11] In his second term, he chaired the council's community, sport and recreation committee.[12]

In May 2015, he announced he would be the running mate on conservative councillor Nicola Young's upcoming 2016 mayoral bid.[13] However, the following March, Eagle changed his allegiance to support fellow Labour Party councillor Justin Lester's mayoral campaign, stating that he had agreed to support Young in the absence of a Labour candidate but he "should have gone to the party [to check] first."[14] Lester was elected mayor and appointed Eagle as both the deputy mayor and the chair of the mayor's taskforce on housing.[15][16]

As a councillor, Eagle supported the introduction of stronger rental housing quality standards,[17] opposed the development of a controversial cycleway through his home suburb of Island Bay[18] and voted for the sale and lease of council-held land at Shelly Bay for a controversial housing development.[19] Mid-term appraisal panels coordinated by local media rated him as the best-performing member of the council in both 2012[20] and 2015.[12]

Eagle resigned his seat on the council after his election to Parliament, necessitating a by-election in his ward.[21] The by-election was won by Fleur Fitzsimons of the Labour Party, who received Eagle's endorsement.

Member of Parliament

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd Rongotai 34 Labour
2020–2023 53rd Rongotai 47 Labour

Upon the announcement that Rongotai MP Annette King intended to stand in the 2017 general election as a list MP only, Eagle stated that he had encouragement from local constituents to stand for King's seat. He said that he had not yet decided whether or not to contest the Labour nomination for the electorate.[22] Labour leader Andrew Little, who lived in the electorate, was also considered as a potential candidate but after Little announced he was not intending to stand in the seat, Eagle confirmed he would seek the nomination. He also announced that he had the full backing of Wellington Mayor Justin Lester, and if he was successful in entering Parliament he would step down from the position of deputy mayor.[23]

On 3 February 2017 Eagle was confirmed as the sole applicant for the Rongotai candidacy and nominated unopposed.[24] Eagle was also ranked 34 on Labour's party list for the election.[25] His decision to contest the election while continuing to hold office as deputy mayor was criticised by right-wing lobby group the Taxpayers' Union.[26] Eagle's National Party opponent Christopher Finlayson commented on his rival in his 2022 memoir, writing: "Paul is a nice guy and I enjoyed being on the campaign trail with him. At one stage at a meeting with left-wingers in Happy Valley, he whispered, 'When is this dreadful meeting going to finish?'"[27] Finlayson also recalled having to whisper Labour's arts policy to Eagle when the latter did not know the answer to an audience member's question.[27] Eagle won the seat with a 10,900 majority on 23 September and resigned from the council on 27 September.[28][29] He was the first male Māori candidate for the Labour Party to be elected to a general electorate for nearly a hundred years.[4][29]

During the 2020 general election, Eagle was re-elected in Rongotai by a final margin of 19,207 votes.[30] A list ranking of 47, lower than the previous election, was described by Eagle as a sign of the party's confidence in his ability to hold the seat.[31] His personal policy of fast-tracking the development of a second Mount Victoria tunnel was at odds with his party's position.[31] Since Eagle left the city council in 2017, mayor Justin Lester had suffered a shock defeat to Andy Foster in the 2019 election and Eagle had been frequently speculated as a possibility to run against Foster. During the 2020 Rongotai campaign Eagle was asked by fellow candidates Geoff Simmons and Nicole McKee to rule out running for the Wellington mayoralty in 2022, which he did after further questioning by journalists.[32]

In his two terms as a Member of Parliament, Eagle served on the governance and administration, transport and infrastructure and Māori affairs committees, and was deputy chair of the economic development, science and innovation committee from November 2017 to August 2018.[33]

Eagle took leave from Parliament between July and October 2022 to campaign, unsuccessfully, to be Mayor of Wellington. On 13 December 2022, Eagle announced that he would not be contesting the 2023 New Zealand general election.[34][35]

Candidacy for Mayor of Wellington

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Despite directly ruling it out during the 2020 general election campaign (stating, ”Yes, I will [rule it out]"),[32] on 27 June 2022 Eagle announced he had changed his mind and would run for mayor in the 2022 election.[36] Prior to the announcement, it had been widely speculated he would run for months, with media labelling it an "open secret" or "Wellington's worst-kept secret".[37][38][39][40] He ran as an independent candidate, but was endorsed by the Labour Party.[36] From 8 July 2022 he took three months of leave from Parliament to focus on his mayoral campaign, donating nearly $24,000 from his parliamentary salary for the three months to charity.[41] He promised that if successful, he would leave parliament, which would have triggered a by-election in the seat of Rongotai.[42] His key campaign pledges were to bring the council "back to basics", to create a new city development authority and to improve the city's main arts and events precinct.[43]

Eagle's campaign was marred with controversy. Before he had announced his candidacy, a taxpayer-funded survey asking his constituents for opinions on what should be Eagle's priorities as local MP was criticised as being used to inform a possible mayoral campaign.[44] Immediately after the campaign launch, a disagreement with the council about the applicability and enforceability of its election signage policy was documented through local media.[45][46] A social media post promoting the redevelopment of the Mount Victoria Tunnel was taken down after an accompanying image depicted Eagle standing in front of the Karori tunnel.[47] Tweets sent by Eagle seven years earlier likening council staff who were developing the Island Bay cycleway to the Gestapo also resurfaced.[48] Three weeks before the election, several independent candidates alleged that Eagle had encouraged them to run and provided them with campaign advice.[49] Eagle's Labour endorsement meant he was expected to endorse Labour's candidates. Eagle denied "shoulder-tapping" alternative candidates but at one community meeting endorsed independent Diane Calvert over Labour candidate Rebecca Matthews.[50]

Eagle was ultimately unsuccessful in his campaign, placing third after new candidate Tory Whanau and incumbent Andy Foster. On provisional results released on election day, Eagle was recorded as coming fourth behind Ray Chung although special votes counted later reversed their positions.[51][52][53] Within two days, Eagle removed all references of his mayoral candidacy from his social media accounts.[54]

One commentator suggested that the poor result was the result of “positioning himself as the continuity candidate” in an election where similar candidates struggled. “That speaks to probably a wider issue with his strategy, because we knew what Paul Eagle was against – he was against cycleways, he was against housing intensification. But it was less clear to Wellingtonians – and probably people watching outside of Wellington – what he was for.”[54]

Post-political career

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In August 2023, shortly after delivering his valedictory speech to Parliament, Eagle was appointed chief executive of the Chatham Islands Council. The Chatham Islands formed part of his electorate during his six years in Parliament. The New Zealand Herald and Stuff reported that Eagle would be the first former Member of Parliament to serve as a local government chief executive.[55][56]

Media outlet Newsroom noted only a few days after Eagle's appointment as chief executive, that the Chatham Islands was uniquely exempted from the Labour Government's Three Waters horizontal infrastructure reforms. Opposition MPs called for this exemption to be extended to other small and isolated communities. Eagle defended the special treatment of the Chathams, and the wider water reforms, saying any repeal "for the Chathams... would delay putting in place some of the infrastructure that’s needed."[57]

Personal life

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Eagle lives in Wellington with his wife Miriam Eagle, who is an environmental scientist, and their adopted son.[4] He is Māori of Waikato-Tainui.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Daily progress for Tuesday, 7 November 2017". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Paul Eagle confirmed as Wellington's first Maori deputy mayor". Stuff.co.nz. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  3. ^ Hunt, Tom (11 October 2022). "Failed Wellington mayoral candidate Paul Eagle confirms $24k in donations". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Murphy, Tim (6 July 2017). "The Sure Things: Paul Eagle". Newsroom. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  5. ^ "A life-changing experience – Paul Eagle – New Zealand Labour Party". Labour.org.nz. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Graduation search results". University of Auckland. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Wellington City Councillor – HOME". Pauleagle.co.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  8. ^ Wellington City Council. "New names join key Wellington organisations". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Elections – Southern Ward – Wellington City Council". Wellington.govt.nz. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Elections – Southern Ward – Wellington City Council". Wellington.govt.nz. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Elections – Southern Ward – Wellington City Council". Wellington.govt.nz. 13 October 2016. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  12. ^ a b Jackman, Amy (5 March 2015). "Wellington City Council report card". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  13. ^ McConnell, Rhiannon (8 April 2015). "Wellington's odd couple Young and Eagle plan tilt at mayoralty". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  14. ^ McConnell, Rhiannon (1 March 2016). "Justin Lester and Paul Eagle announce joint ticket for Wellington mayoralty". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  15. ^ Forbes, Michael (13 October 2016). "Paul Eagle confirmed as Wellington's first Maori deputy mayor". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  16. ^ Swinnen, Lucy (19 October 2016). "Mayoral task force to tackle all aspects of housing in Wellington". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  17. ^ Wellington City Council (17 August 2017). "Rental Warrant of Fitness for Wellington | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  18. ^ Forbes, Michael (26 February 2016). "How Wellington's Island Bay cycleway ended up dividing a community". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Shelly Bay land deal gets Council go-ahead". Wellington City Council. 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  20. ^ Beer, Emma (5 April 2012). "The good, the bad and the strugglers". Stuff. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  21. ^ McAndrew, Ruby (24 September 2017). "Just when you thought it was safe to relax ... it's back to the polls in Wellington and Hastings". Stuff. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  22. ^ Tom Hunt (18 December 2016). "Paul Eagle looks at running in Rongotai as Annette King heads for list". Stuff. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  23. ^ Tom Hunt (20 January 2017). "Paul Eagle confirms he will put his name forward for national politics". Stuff. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  24. ^ Damian George (5 February 2017). "Wellington deputy mayor Paul Eagle set to win Labour's Rongotai nomination in no-contest". Stuff. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop. 15 August 2017. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  26. ^ Taxpayers' Union (17 August 2017). "Local Government stepping stone to Parliament sting | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  27. ^ a b Finlayson, Christopher (2022). Yes, Minister. Auckland: Allen & Unwin. p. 231. ISBN 978-199-1006-103.
  28. ^ "Rongotai – Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. 23 September 2017. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  29. ^ a b Devlin, Collette (27 September 2017). "Wellington Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle says emotional goodbye to council". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  30. ^ "Rongotai – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  31. ^ a b MacManus, Joel (13 October 2020). "Election 2020: Paul Eagle looking for second win in Rongotai". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  32. ^ a b MacManus, Joel (11 September 2020). "Rongotai candidates clash over commitment". Stuff. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  33. ^ "Eagle, Paul – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  34. ^ Lee, Irra (13 December 2022). "Six Labour MPs including David Clark to retire at election". 1 News. TVNZ. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  35. ^ Ensor, Jamie (12 December 2022). "Labour MP retirements: Poto Williams, David Clark, Paul Eagle among those resigning". Newshub. Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  36. ^ a b Campbell, Georgina (27 June 2022). "Rongotai MP Paul Eagle announces Wellington mayoral bid". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  37. ^ Campbell, Georgina (9 October 2022). "Wellington mayoralty: How an unknown beat a Labour MP". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  38. ^ Hunt, Tom (26 June 2022). "Wellington mayoralty contender Paul Eagle pledges to hit the ground running if he wins". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  39. ^ Manhire, Toby (24 June 2022). "Paul and Andy, stop taking the piss – tell Wellington if you want to be mayor or not". The Spinoff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  40. ^ The Dominion Post (21 June 2022). "The Dominion Post says: Does no-one want to be Wellington's mayor?". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  41. ^ Hunt, Tom (11 October 2022). "Failed Wellington mayoral candidate Paul Eagle confirms $24k in donations". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  42. ^ Hunt, Tom (27 June 2022). "Wellington mayoralty contender Paul Eagle pledges to hit the ground running if he wins". Stuff. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  43. ^ Campbell, Georgina (24 July 2022). "Paul Eagle announces key policies for Wellington mayoral bid". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  44. ^ "MP's use of parliamentary resources questioned amid mayoralty bid speculation". RNZ. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  45. ^ "Paul Eagle's campaign engages lawyer over billboard stoush". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  46. ^ "Mayoral candidate Paul Eagle on putting new billboards after taking down the last lot". RNZ. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  47. ^ Campbell, Georgina (10 August 2022). "'Human error' behind mayoral candidate's social media bungle". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  48. ^ Hunt, Tom (3 October 2022). "Wellington mayoral candidate Paul Eagle 'sorry' for likening council staff to Gestapo". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  49. ^ Daalder, Marc (22 September 2022). "Paul Eagle denies attending anti-Labour 'study group'". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  50. ^ Gourley, Erin (21 September 2022). "Wellington mayoral hopeful Paul Eagle backtracks after Labour candidate snub". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  51. ^ Hunt, Tom (17 December 2022). "Paul Eagle: The man, the enigma, the Rongotai MP?". Stuff. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  52. ^ "Elections 2022 – Mayor". Wellington City Council. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  53. ^ Gourley, Erin (8 October 2022). "Even split of fresh faces and experience on Wellington's new council". Stuff. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  54. ^ a b Te Ora, Ethan (10 October 2022). "Paul Eagle scrubs website and social media bios of references to failed mayoral campaign". Stuff. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  55. ^ "Failed Wellington mayoral candidate and outgoing MP reveals new job". 18 August 2023.
  56. ^ Knell, Conor (17 August 2023). "Paul Eagle to move to Chatham Islands as council chief executive". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  57. ^ "One small council exempted from Three Waters reforms: 'We are unique'". 23 August 2023.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Eagle.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Rongotai
2017–2023 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Deputy Mayor of Wellington
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Wellington City Councillor for Southern Ward
2010–2017 		Succeeded by
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