Mark Ball

Mark Robert Ball QSM JP is a New Zealand politician and former police officer. He was mayor of the Franklin District, in the Auckland region, for six years until the position was disestablished in 2010. He currently serves as leader of the Heartland New Zealand Party.[1]

Mark Ball

QSM JP
Ball in 2013
1st Leader of Heartland NZ
Assumed office
6 August 2020
6th Mayor of Franklin District
In office
9 October 2004 – 1 November 2010
Preceded byHeather Maloney
Succeeded byLen Brown
(as Mayor of Auckland Council)
Personal details
NationalityNew Zealand
OccupationPolitician

Early life

Ball was a police officer for 17 years,[2] policing the South Auckland area. He later owned a business, which he sold when elected as a mayor.[3]

Political career

Mayor of Franklin District

At the 2004 New Zealand local elections, Ball stood and won for the position of Mayor of Franklin. He was reelected at the 2007 local elections. In 2010, the Franklin District Council (along with the position of Mayor of Franklin) was abolished along with all other councils in the Auckland region when they were merged to form the single Auckland Council.[4] Unlike several of the other Auckland Mayors, Ball did not run in the 2010 Auckland mayoral election for the position of Mayor of Auckland.[5]

The Franklin District Council had applied to remain a standalone council instead of being amalgamated into the larger Auckland council, although this request was denied by then Minister of Local GovernmentRodney Hide. Ball stated he was "disappointed" with this decision.[6] In a 2020 interview, a decade after the merger, Ball said that while there was no point going back to the multi-council structure, he believed a review of the supercity was needed, and that vital infrastructure in his region had been passed up in favour of upgrades in Auckland's CBD.[7]

Heartland New Zealand

Mark Ball leads the Heartland New Zealand Party,[1] which was registered with the Electoral Commission in August 2020.[8] Heartland is a rural-based party that opposes the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, the Paris Agreement, and attempts to limit the environmental impacts of agriculture.[9]

Ball contested the 2020 New Zealand general election for Heartland and was ranked first on its party list of five.[10] He was also the party's only electorate candidate, contesting the electorate of Port Waikato, which contains the Franklin area. Ball received 8,462 electorate votes (21% of the vote) and came third; Andrew Bayly won the electorate with 15,635 votes (38%).[11] This was a surprisingly high result for a little known third party candidate.

Since Ball, Heartland's only electorate candidate, did not win his electorate, and the party did not receive the required 5% of the party vote to enter Parliament, Heartland New Zealand did not gain any seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives.[12]

Personal life

Ball is married to Catherine. They have three adult children and live in Pukekohe.[13] In the 2013 New Year Honours, he was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for services to the community.[14]

References
  1. "Heartland New Zealand". Policy.nz. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  2. "Eight youths charged over Tuakau police assault". NZ Herald. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  3. "Mark Ball". Pukekohe Travel. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  4. "Super city FAQ - all you need to know". Newshub. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  5. "Mayor (1) final results". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. "Franklin residents split between district councils". NZ Herald. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. Bell, Jean (2 November 2020). "Ten years since Auckland Council formed, but how super is the supercity?". RNZ. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. "Three parties apply to register". New Zealand Electoral Commission. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. James Baker (17 July 2020). "New rural Heartland party challenges climate change and water restrictions". Stuff. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  10. https://elections.nz/media-and-news/2020/candidate-and-party-lists-released/
  11. "Port Waikato - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  12. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Preliminary Count".
  13. https://www.heartlandparty.org.nz/mark-ball
  14. "New Year honours list 2013". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
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