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Deon Swiggs

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Chair of Canterbury Regional Council
Deon Swiggs
Swiggs in the Christchurch City Council chamber
Christchurch City Councillor
In office
8 October 2016 â€“ October 2019
Succeeded byJake McLellan
ConstituencyCentral Ward
Environment Canterbury Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 October 2022[1]
Serving with Sara Gerard
Preceded byMegan Hands
ConstituencyChristchurch West/ƌpuna
Personal details
Born (1986-09-06) 6 September 1986 (age 39)
Nelson, New Zealand
PartyLabour Party (until 2016)
Websitehttps://deonswiggs.com

Deon William Swiggs (born 6 September 1986) is a New Zealand politician and community leader. He serves as chair of the Canterbury Regional Council and serves as councillor representing the Christchurch West/ƌpuna regional constituency. He previously served from 2016 to 2019 on Christchurch City Council representing the Central ward. Before entering elected office, he founded the civic initiative Rebuild Christchurch following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake.

Early life and education

[edit]

Swiggs was born in Nelson, New Zealand, and is the eldest of three siblings. Until Swiggs was 5, he was raised at Parihaka Pa as a Christian. Swiggs was educated at Marlborough Boys' College where he was a sixth form prefect. After graduating in 2004, Swiggs joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2005 as a navigation officer. Swiggs left the Navy in 2008 to pursue a career in the business sector.[2] In 2008, Swiggs worked as a real estate agent for Harcourts in New Plymouth before transferring to Christchurch in 2009. He left the company in 2010 to form Swiggs Consulting Limited. Later in 2010, Swiggs was offered the position of South Island Accounts Manager at AdzUp.[2]

Two days after the onset of the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, Swiggs founded Rebuild Christchurch, an organisation which dedicated to collating recovery information from a variety of sources and disseminating the material in an easy-to-understand format for residents affected by the shock. Swiggs has been called one of the innovating new entrepreneurs born out of the Christchurch earthquakes.[3] On 22 February 2011, Swiggs was in the AdzUp office located in the Christchurch CBD when the 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck.[4]

In April 2011, Swiggs was made redundant from AdzUp due to the earthquakes. From this time, Swiggs worked full-time on RebuildChristchurch.co.nz and studied on the side.[5] In 2012, Swiggs was nominated for Young New Zealander of the Year.[6] and was named alongside Roger Sutton and Bob Parker as a leader in the Canterbury Rebuild.

Swiggs was accepted into a placement at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) in February 2013 into a Bachelor of Applied Management. In March 2013, Swiggs graduated from CPIT with a bachelor's degree in Applied Management majoring in Sales and Marketing[7] as well as a graduate diploma in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.[8] More recently, Swiggs was awarded a Doctor of Business Administration.[9][when?]

Political career

[edit]

Christchurch City Council (2016–2019)

[edit]

The Press reported on 27 April 2013 that Swiggs was contemplating running for Councillor of the Christchurch City Council.[10] On 26 August 2013, Swiggs announced he had put his nomination forward for the Christchurch East by-election.[11] On 22 September 2013, Swiggs found his nomination was unsuccessful. Poto Williams was selected and elected Member of Parliament in that year.[12]

Deon Swiggs meets Prince Charles in Christchurch (2013)

In July 2015, Swiggs and Christchurch broadcaster Chris Lynch along with award-winning filmmaker Gerard Smyth spent a week interviewing various citizens of Christchurch about their views on the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Act draft transition recovery plan, which expired in April 2016. As of 28 July[year needed], the video, When a City Falls, has been watched more than 30,000 times.[13][14]

On 31 May 2016, Swiggs announced that he would stand for Christchurch City Council as an independent in the newly created Christchurch Central ward in the 2016 local body elections. On 8 October 2016, he was elected to the council.[15]

Swiggs was a founding trustee on the Canterbury Insurance Advocacy Service funded by council to advocate for people with insurance issues.[16] Swiggs resigned as a trustee on 23 December 2016.[17]

During his term, Swiggs focused on central-city rebuilding, infrastructure renewal (including underground services and transport), social issues such as homelessness, and community engagement. He served on committees for housing and community development and engaged actively with residents’ associations within his ward[citation needed]. He sought re-election in the 2019 local elections but was defeated by Jake McLellan and ceased being a city councillor in October 2019.[18]

Environment Canterbury (2022–present)

[edit]

Swiggs returned to the local government in October 2022 when he was elected to Environment Canterbury for the Christchurch West/ƌpuna constituency. In this role, he has emphasised issues such as freshwater and water-quality management, climate change adaptation, transport connectivity, and regional planning collaboration.

In October 2024 he was appointed Deputy Chair of the Council.[19]

In the 2025 local elections he was re-elected. According to final results published 17 October 2025, in the Christchurch West/ƌpuna constituency he polled 14,806 votes, he is joined by Sara Gerard (14,453) replacing Craig Pauling. Deon outpolled Michael Bennett (8,629) and Colin Meurk (8,115). [20]

He has publicly announced his intention to contest the chairpersonship of the council at the first meeting of the new term.[21]

Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury)
Years Constituency Affiliation
2022–2025 Christchurch West/ƌpuna Independent
2025–Present Christchurch West/ƌpuna Independent

Community and civic involvement

[edit]

Swiggs has maintained a longstanding involvement in the Christchurch community. The Rebuild Christchurch Foundation, which he founded in 2010, has undertaken work supporting quake-affected suburbs, delivering resources and information, coordinating community events, and amplifying resident voices in the rebuilding process.

He was a founding trustee of the Canterbury Insurance Advocacy Service (a council-funded trust assisting homeowners with earthquake-related insurance claims) and has engaged in youth-government and community-leadership networks to promote civic participation.

Allegations and complaints

[edit]

In September 2019, Swiggs publicly disclosed that he was the Christchurch City Councillor under investigation by the city council for complaints alleging inappropriate messaging and behaviour at youth-oriented events. He denied any wrongdoing. The council’s code-of-conduct investigation did not proceed to full conclusion after his term ended.[22][23][24]

Screenshots released by Swiggs on 3 October 2019 reveal some of the messages related to the complaint made by the Canterbury Youth Workers Collective.[25][26][27] A preliminary investigation revealed that two of the complaints warranted further investigation, while a third complaint was referred to another agency, presumed to be the police.[28]

Personal life and recognition

[edit]

Swiggs holds a Doctor of Business Administration and describes himself as a small-business owner and entrepreneur. At the time of his 2016 election he became the first openly gay Christchurch City Councillor and remains a supporter of LGBTQ+ community causes.[29] [30]

Swiggs was nominated for Young New Zealander of the Year in 2012 in recognition of his leadership in the post-earthquake recovery phase.[31] He has also been recognized for his community service at the Volunteering Canterbury Volunteer Recognition Awards in 2013 and is the recipient of the Christchurch City Council Service Youth Award.[32][33]

Projects

[edit]

Swiggs has worked on several projects, including:

  • Project Christmas[34][35]
  • Lets Get It Done[36]
  • Football in the Gap[37]
  • The Canterbury Insurance Assistance Service[38]
  • Buck Brings Back Marmite[39]
  • A Beautiful Struggle[40]
  • Christchurch Panoramas[41][42]
  • Eyes East[43]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Preliminary election results released". Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b Swiggs, Deon. "Deon Swiggs: About". Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Entrepreneurs emerge from Chch quake". 3news.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  4. ^ "New Zealand earthquake: Hard to move on when ground keeps moving". Los Angeles Times. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Entrepreneurs emerge from Chch quake – Story – NZ News". 3 News. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  6. ^ "CPIT Student in the Business of Recovery". Cpit.ac.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Student numbers up in line with rebuild – Story – NZ News". The Press. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Student numbers up in line with rebuild – Story – NZ News". The Press. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  9. ^ "About Dr Deon Swiggs – Doctoral studies". Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  10. ^ "The Press Campaigners set their sights on council seats". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  11. ^ Rachel Young (25 August 2013). "Deon Swiggs To Stand for Dalziel's Christchurch..." Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Poto Williams selected as Labour Christchurch East Candidate". Scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  13. ^ MEIER, CECILE (28 July 2015). "'Huge wave of support' for locally-led recovery". The Press. Fairfax Media.
  14. ^ "When a City Falls". NZOnScreen.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  15. ^ Daly, Jo (14 October 2016). "Declaration of results" (PDF). Christchurch City Council.
  16. ^ "Canterbury Insurance Advocacy Service". Canterburyinsuranceadvocacyservice.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  17. ^ "Charities Services | Home".
  18. ^ "Christchurch City Council 2019 Election Results". Christchurch City Council. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Dr Deon Swiggs – Deputy Chair of Canterbury Regional Council". Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  20. ^ "Final results confirm new councillors for regional council". 17 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  21. ^ "Deon Swiggs to contest chair of Environment Canterbury". 26 October 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  22. ^ Sam Sherwood and Blair Ensor (23 September 2019). "Christchurch city councillor Deon Swiggs reveals he is under investigation". Stuff. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  23. ^ Conan Young (21 September 2019). "Concern over time taken to probe complaints about a councillor". RNZ. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Christchurch councillor accused of inappropriate behaviour identifies himself". RNZ. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  25. ^ Sherwood, Sam; Law, Tina (24 September 2019). "Christchurch City councillor Deon Swiggs taking 'short break'". Stuff. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  26. ^ Swiggs, Deon. "Facebook messages 1". Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  27. ^ "2 Complainant Two". Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  28. ^ Law, Tina (14 October 2019). "Calls for continued investigation into ex Christchurch councillor's 'grossly inappropriate' actions". Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  29. ^ "GayNZ.com – Christchurch elects openly gay councillor, Deon Swiggs". 23 April 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  30. ^ "Rebuild Christchurch founder Deon Swiggs standing for council". The Press. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  31. ^ "CPIT student in the business of recovery". CPIT News. CPIT. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  32. ^ "Awards for those who donate their time". The Press. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  33. ^ "CPIT student in the business of recovery". CPIT News. Cpit.ac.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  34. ^ "Struggling Families Given A Boost". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  35. ^ "Stuff | Bus Makes Special Deliveries". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  36. ^ "Stuff | Getting it Done". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  37. ^ "Rebuild Christchurch | Football in the Gap". Rebuild Christchurch. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  38. ^ "Fairfax". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  39. ^ "Sanitarium | Buck Brings Back Marmite". Sanitarium. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  40. ^ "Newstalk ZB". Newstalkzb.co.nz. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  41. ^ "New pics illustrate change in Christchurch's cityscape". The New Zealand Herald.
  42. ^ Mathewson, Nicole (17 May 2015). "Aerial views of Christchurch prove popular". Stuff. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  43. ^ "CTV to debut doco series on East Christchurch". Stuff. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
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