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Vicki Buck

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Vicki Buck
Buck in 2010
43rd Mayor of Christchurch
In office
1989–1998
Preceded byHamish Hay
Succeeded byGarry Moore
Riccarton Ward
In office
20 October 2016[1] – 12 October 2019
Preceded byWard created
Succeeded byCatherine Chu
Riccarton-Wigram Ward
In office
24 October 2013 – 8 October 2016
Serving with Jimmy Chen
Preceded byHelen Broughton
Succeeded byWard abolished
Personal details
Born (1955-07-16) 16 July 1955 (age 69)
NationalityNew Zealand
Political partyLabour Party (until early 1990s)

Vicki Susan Buck (born 16 July 1955) is a New Zealand politician. She was Mayor of Christchurch for nine years from 1989 to 1998. Prior to being Mayor, Buck was a city councillor for the Pegasus ward, having been elected as the youngest city councillor in New Zealand at the age of 19. She retired after three mayoral terms, having been very popular.

Buck made a political comeback in the 2013 local elections, as a city councillor for the Riccarton-Wigram ward, and returned the highest number of votes across all city wards. Subsequent to the election, she accepted the deputy mayor role. She decided not to stand in the 2019 local elections, marking the end of her councillorship.

Early life and family

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Buck was born on 16 July 1955, and grew up in North Beach (now North New Brighton), an eastern suburb of Christchurch.[2] She was educated at Christchurch Girls' High School.[3] She went on to study at the University of Canterbury from 1972, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1975[4] and Master of Arts with honours in political sciences in 1977.[3][5] In 1986, she married Robert Donald McKay,[3] but their marriage ended during Buck's time as Christchurch mayor.[6]

Political life

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Buck in 2015
External image
image icon Buck at age 19

Buck joined the Labour Party aged 16.[7] At age 19, she stood in the 1974 Christchurch mayoral election as a Labour candidate for the Pegasus ward. Four seats in the ward were contested by ten candidates. Buck came fifth, narrowly beaten by Peter William Anderson in fourth.[8] Before special votes were counted, it had been thought that she would beat incumbent councillor Bill Massey, a fellow Labour member, who was just 65 votes ahead.[8]

In March 1975, Bill Massey unexpectedly died, triggering a by-election.[9] The Labour Party chose Buck to stand in this by-election, which she won by a large margin.[7][10] At the time, she was New Zealand's youngest city councillor.[11]

Despite her youth, she soon made an impact around the council table and attracted the attention of media. A 1978 reshuffle of council committee chairmanships resulted in the proposal that Buck take over the Community Services Committee, but this was blocked by Mayor Hamish Hay and his colleagues on the Citizens ticket.[11]

She was one of five Local Government Commissioners working from 1984 to 1989 on a major reorganisation of local government in New Zealand.[2]

Buck became the city's first woman mayor in 1989.[12] She stood for mayor as an independent. An active and vigorous leader, she is widely credited with leading a turnaround in the perception of Christchurch as a city.

In 1990, Buck received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[3][13]

Life after politics

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More recently she has:

  • been a member of the New Zealand government's Science and Innovation Advisory Council[14]
  • been chair of the NZ Learning Discovery Trust, which in turn has set up Discovery 1 and Unlimited state schools in central Christchurch. The schools are based on the student being central in their own individual learning.[15]
  • initiated the LIFT Trust with five schools in Linwood to create free tertiary education for students who may otherwise not enjoy this because of the fees barrier.[16]
  • been director and co-founder of Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation, a bio-fuel company using wild algae, and cleaning dirty and contaminated water.[17]
  • been director and co-founder of Celsias.com, a website for business and community groups which is based on the premise that Governments are not acting quickly enough on climate change and it will be up to all of us to act.[18]
  • been director and co-founder of Carbonscape, aimed at sequestering carbon from waste biomass through microwave technology.
  • been on the NZ advisory board of Craigmore Sustainables, involved in carbon forestry.

In 2008 she was nominated by a panel commissioned by The Guardian newspaper as one of 50 people who could reverse the effects of climate change.[19]

Political comeback

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Buck stood as an independent candidate in the 2013 local elections in the Riccarton-Wigram ward as councillor for Christchurch City Council. She supported Lianne Dalziel's mayoral campaign, although initially declined to become deputy mayor.[20] On 12 October 2013, Buck was returned with the highest number of votes of any of the council candidates across the city.[21] In late October, Buck changed her mind and decided to accept the role of deputy mayor,[22] after the role was re-framed to include more than ceremonial duties.[23] She served in this role until 2016.[24]

In June 2019, she announced that she would not be seeking re-election in October.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Agenda of inaugural meeting" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b Walton, Mark (18 October 2024), "Our Kiwi Home: Our Vicki - putting Christchurch first", The Press, retrieved 18 October 2024
  3. ^ a b c d Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 82. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  4. ^ "Reporter's Diary". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33838. 9 May 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Candidate chosen". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33814. 10 April 1975. p. 14. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  6. ^ Van Beynen, Martin (31 July 2010). "Life's what they make it". The Press. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Pegasus seat to student". The Press. No. 33840. 12 May 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Citizens' Assn captures City Council, 11–8". The Press. Vol. CXIV, no. 33664. 14 October 1974. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Councillor dies". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33804. 29 March 1975. p. 16. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Candidate chosen". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33814. 10 April 1975. p. 14. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b Hay, Hamish (1989). Hay Days. Christchurch: Caxton Press. p. 94. ISBN 0908563310.
  12. ^ "Mayoralty figures". The Press. 16 October 1989. p. 3.
  13. ^ "The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Prime Minister launches Science and Innovation Advisory Council". The Beehive.
  15. ^ "Timeline". 14 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Canterbury Local Heroes honoured". nzawards.org.nz.
  17. ^ https://www.stratexgroup.co.nz/article/can-this-woman-fuel-the-world [dead link‍]
  18. ^ Advantage, Pure (28 October 2011). "Celsias".
  19. ^ Vidal, John; Adam, David; Watts, Jonathan; Hickman, Leo; Sample, Ian (5 January 2008). "50 people who could save the planet". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  20. ^ Greenhill, Marc (26 June 2013). "Buck runs as an independent candidate". The Press. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  21. ^ "Riccarton-Wigram ward". The Press. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  22. ^ Vicki Buck named deputy mayor. Fairfax NZ News. 22 October 2013.
  23. ^ Cairns, Lois (23 October 2013). "Buck and Manji given key positions". The Press. p. A1.
  24. ^ Law, Tina (20 October 2016). "Christchurch's new deputy mayor is Andrew Turner". Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  25. ^ Gorman, Phil (27 June 2019). "Former Christchurch mayor says goodbye to city council for second time". The Press. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Christchurch
1989–1998 		Succeeded by
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