October 11, 2025 • 4 mins
Re-elected mayor Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger is calling for a rethink to local election voting systems.
Mauger says he's humbled by the margin of his victory over rival Sara Templeton, but admits the country needs better engagement.
"And our general elections are very well-subscribed, because we're going down and voting and the postal system's just not working. We need to do something different."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Ruggan
from News Talks edb.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Right to christ Church Now. Film Major has been elected
for a second term as mayor. He's beaten rival Sarah
Sarah Templeton by almost twenty thousand votes. Film Major is
with me now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm very good. Congratulations a big win for you by
twenty thousand votes. Is that bigger than you thought it
could be?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yes, Well, you always go and wanting to win, otherwise
you don't start. And I was very, very humbled by
the margin. So I'm very happy thinking.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I was in christ Church not too long ago and
I was so impressed with the city. It's vibrance, see
the energy. It kind of I just think christ Church
is kind of where it's at. Do you feel the
same way? Do you feel it's heading in a good direction?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Oh? Absolutely? For the last three years that my job
is to make it be as positive about christ Church
as possibly can, and other things have come and to
play of course, but there's a lot of people moving
down from Auckland and we've got students queuing at the
door to get into the university, so you know, there's
a lot of good things happening, a lot of and
of course the stadium and the new parakee Ory Sports
(01:17):
Center is going to be another little cog in the wheel.
It's going to be good.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So you're on fire. But what challenges is christ Church facing?
What are the main focuses for you heading into the
second term?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, there's two things I want to One is to
make sure we keep the momentum going, because we have
been in the doldrums after the earthquake and a number
of other things, and we're shooting out of it like
a rocket. There's lots of planes coming in with tourists
and stuff. But the other thing is I want to
so I don't want to lose that momentum. So that's
very important. But I want to sort of tackle debt
(01:48):
because some accountants will tell you debt is a good thing,
but I feel that the amount of debt we've got
is too much. So we can back off a bit
of that. It will give us more money to spend
on the things we like rather than throwing it away
as interest.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So I think twenty five cents in every rate dollar
is servicing debt currently.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's yep, you're right on the button.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
So how do you get that down?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We look at how we can reduce it, well, not
reduce their capital spend, but not be so high on
what we want to charge people for our capital increases
and be a bit more realistic on what we can
actually deliver. We're very lucky. Last year our insurance premium
was very high for all our stuff, but it's actually
(02:31):
come back a bit this year, which I'm thankful to
the insurance companies and the work that the stuff done,
and that's going to be saving that we can. We've
just got to get our expenses down.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Have you got a bit of a plan in place
for the three years? Is it going to be something
that you're slowly working away at or are you going
to take quite an aggressive approach to it.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I just slowly working away at it. We've the council
that has been voted in with me, there's a there's
a couple of new people there. But I've just got
to that's what democracy is, what's been put in front
of me, and we're having a wee parwell today and
over the next couple of weeks we'll decide on how
hard or fast we go. But the main thing is
cost living crisis for US counselors one because we've borrow
(03:13):
too much money and and people out there because everyone's
suffering as well. It's all very well to say christ
which is going well, but there are cost living crisis. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'm well aware that I visited on a weekend where
the sun was shining and the mountains look amazing and
the city was bob And I'm well aware of the
fact that I was a visitor for two days. The
reality of living somewhere it can be quite different counted
of course.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. The winner's always like this here. Hmm.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
I asked Andrew Little just before about voter turnout. It's
not great when it comes to local body elections. How
do you think we can get people better engaged?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
That is such a difficult question. It's from what I understand,
our general elections are very well subscribed because it's going
down and voting and actually making a day of it,
even though you can do it a couple of weeks
before hostal systems, it's just not working. It's we need
to do something different to encourage people to get out
and the vote.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So major really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
For joining us and best of luck.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks A B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Ruggan
from News Talks edb.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Right to christ Church Now. Film Major has been elected
for a second term as mayor. He's beaten rival Sarah
Sarah Templeton by almost twenty thousand votes. Film Major is
with me now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm very good. Congratulations a big win for you by
twenty thousand votes. Is that bigger than you thought it
could be?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yes, Well, you always go and wanting to win, otherwise
you don't start. And I was very, very humbled by
the margin. So I'm very happy thinking.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I was in christ Church not too long ago and
I was so impressed with the city. It's vibrance, see
the energy. It kind of I just think christ Church
is kind of where it's at. Do you feel the
same way? Do you feel it's heading in a good direction?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Oh? Absolutely? For the last three years that my job
is to make it be as positive about christ Church
as possibly can, and other things have come and to
play of course, but there's a lot of people moving
down from Auckland and we've got students queuing at the
door to get into the university, so you know, there's
a lot of good things happening, a lot of and
of course the stadium and the new parakee Ory Sports
(01:17):
Center is going to be another little cog in the wheel.
It's going to be good.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So you're on fire. But what challenges is christ Church facing?
What are the main focuses for you heading into the
second term?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Well, there's two things I want to One is to
make sure we keep the momentum going, because we have
been in the doldrums after the earthquake and a number
of other things, and we're shooting out of it like
a rocket. There's lots of planes coming in with tourists
and stuff. But the other thing is I want to
so I don't want to lose that momentum. So that's
very important. But I want to sort of tackle debt
(01:48):
because some accountants will tell you debt is a good thing,
but I feel that the amount of debt we've got
is too much. So we can back off a bit
of that. It will give us more money to spend
on the things we like rather than throwing it away
as interest.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So I think twenty five cents in every rate dollar
is servicing debt currently.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's yep, you're right on the button.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
So how do you get that down?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We look at how we can reduce it, well, not
reduce their capital spend, but not be so high on
what we want to charge people for our capital increases
and be a bit more realistic on what we can
actually deliver. We're very lucky. Last year our insurance premium
was very high for all our stuff, but it's actually
(02:31):
come back a bit this year, which I'm thankful to
the insurance companies and the work that the stuff done,
and that's going to be saving that we can. We've
just got to get our expenses down.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Have you got a bit of a plan in place
for the three years? Is it going to be something
that you're slowly working away at or are you going
to take quite an aggressive approach to it.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I just slowly working away at it. We've the council
that has been voted in with me, there's a there's
a couple of new people there. But I've just got
to that's what democracy is, what's been put in front
of me, and we're having a wee parwell today and
over the next couple of weeks we'll decide on how
hard or fast we go. But the main thing is
cost living crisis for US counselors one because we've borrow
(03:13):
too much money and and people out there because everyone's
suffering as well. It's all very well to say christ
which is going well, but there are cost living crisis. Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'm well aware that I visited on a weekend where
the sun was shining and the mountains look amazing and
the city was bob And I'm well aware of the
fact that I was a visitor for two days. The
reality of living somewhere it can be quite different counted
of course.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. The winner's always like this here. Hmm.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
I asked Andrew Little just before about voter turnout. It's
not great when it comes to local body elections. How
do you think we can get people better engaged?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
That is such a difficult question. It's from what I understand,
our general elections are very well subscribed because it's going
down and voting and actually making a day of it,
even though you can do it a couple of weeks
before hostal systems, it's just not working. It's we need
to do something different to encourage people to get out
and the vote.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So major really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
For joining us and best of luck.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks A B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!