Tasman District councillor resigns for new role
Tasman District councillor Dana Wensley has resigned to concentrate on a new Auckland-based role as researcher for the Child Poverty Action Group.
Founded in 1994, Child Poverty Action Group is a registered charity whose members are working to eliminate child poverty in New Zealand through research, education and advocacy.
Wensley, who has been one of those members for several years, said she ‘‘100% endorses its vision for an Aotearoa in which all children flourish free from poverty’’.
One of four Richmond ward councillors, Wensley attended her final council meeting as an elected member yesterday – a gathering of the regulatory committee, of which she is the chairperson.
She told the committee that her time with the council had been an ‘‘amazing experience and a steep learning curve’’.
The council got a ‘‘bad rep’’ sometimes because it was involved in so much that was integral to people’s lives and livelihoods.
‘‘It is a big financial institution as well as an environmental and social one,’’ she said. ‘‘Quite often, merging those things together is complicated, but that’s what everybody around the table is here to do.’’
Tasman District was vibrant. ‘‘Lots of people want to move here, lots of people enjoy living here and that is a testament to the way it’s been managed for all those years,’’ she said to the long-standing elected members including mayor Tim King, deputy mayor Stuart Bryant and Motueka ward councillor David Ogilvie.
Wensley also acknowledged the newer councillors and the community, without which ‘‘we would be sitting here without a mandate ... and it would be a pretty futile position to be in – to not have the ear of your community’’.
King said he appreciated the time and effort Wensley had put in during her time with the council.
‘‘I know we haven’t always agreed . . . but I have always appreciated the commitment that you’ve made to both interacting with your community, being in the community and advocating very strongly for those things that you believe in.’’
Raised in Motueka, Wensley was first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2019. On both occasions, she was the highest-polling councillor candidate, with 3446 and 3856
votes respectively. Her re-election campaign in 2019 came as she was dealing with a diagnosis of cancer.
Enrolled as a barrister and solicitor to the High Court, Wensley has previously worked as a registered nurse, solicitor and a senior research fellow at the University of Otago. She holds a PhD in medical law and ethics from King’s College in London.
From 2015 to 2019, Wensley was a legal representative on the National Ethics Advisory Committee and previously served as community representative on the hospital advisory committee at Nelson Marlborough District Health Board.
In September 2021, Wensley was appointed by Health Minister Andrew Little to the End of Life Choice Review Committee, which oversees assisted dying in New Zealand. She is the chairperson of this committee.
Wensley said she stood for the council to get increased awareness of how local government ‘‘affects our health and wellbeing’’.
‘‘Issues like air and water quality, transport, housing, land use, and delegations under the Health Act, all have a direct link on health and wellbeing,’’ she said.
‘‘Poverty contributes to ill health, and ill health can generate poverty, which particularly impacts children.’’
Her time on the council had been rewarding.
‘‘You learn a lot. You learn to love being amongst people and hearing their stories.’’
Around the council table, it was important to respect the other elected members, realise everyone was trying to represent their communities, and try to be inclusive despite differences in opinions, Wensley said.
The council is scheduled to decide at its meeting on May 19 whether to appoint a person ‘‘suitably qualified’’ to be an elected member to fill the vacancy created by Wensley’s resignation.
‘‘You learn to love being amongst people and hearing their stories.’’
Dana Wensley