Viewpoint – Champion for community good

With Christmas and the New Year almost upon us, I want to wish everyone the very best for the holiday season. It’s a hectic time but also an opportunity to pause and reflect.

When I reflect on our own community, one name stands out when it comes to local politics and that’s Wayne Walker. For 25 years Wayne has been the most dominant, determined and effective elected member in our area. His energy is legendary, his ability to rally local communities unmatched and his record as a genuinely independent representative self-evident for all to see.

Wayne first stepped into the Rodney District Council back in 2001 after years of grass-roots involvement in a number of local community and environmental groups. By 2010, when the new mega-council was imposed on Auckland and many assumed the Hibiscus Coast would lose its voice entirely, Wayne proved them wrong. Against the odds he became the unmistakable face of the Albany Ward, complete with its 200,000 odd residents, for five consecutive terms.

Over that time, he has been a veritable whirlwind. Working with others, he helped to save precious reserves like the Hammerhead from sale. Likewise he fought – and won – significant environmental battles in our ward. He also helped secure sports fields, community facilities and major transport upgrades for our area. He had as a particular passion, a zeal for protecting valuable public assets, like our council-owned marinas and stadiums, which both bureaucrats and politicians were eager to sell off. Just as importantly though, he showed up for those ordinary residents across the Auckland region who could sometimes struggle to get a fair hearing.

But Wayne’s contribution goes well beyond council business. On the Coast he has quietly supported countless community groups and individuals, especially through the Whangaparāoa Hall where organisations like Love Soup got their start. He’s also encouraged and mentored others into public life – people who simply wouldn’t have made it without his generosity and guidance.

In short, Wayne has given everything to the Hibiscus Coast under both Rodney and Auckland Councils. He’s been fearless and he’s been relentless – always fronting up for the public good even when that has meant incurring the wrath of powerful vested interests and their political minions who would have had it otherwise – in that sense he’s part of a long and proud tradition on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula that goes back over a century.

So amid the festive rush this year, maybe take a moment to think about those who have helped you – family, friends or colleagues. Those special people who in spite of an increasingly cynical and self-interested world, still continue to do their best to help others and strive for a better society in the future.