Meet your new councillors

JON PEMBERTON Southern Constituency

Jon is a fourth generation dairy farmer. He, his wife Birgit and their three young children live on their leased property at Menzies Ferry and own another at Brydone.

Birgit is from Austria and they get back to visit when they can. They also enjoy exploring the southern wilderness in their old truck, which they’ve converted into a mobile camper.

Originally from Canterbury, Jon moved to Southland as a teenager and considers it home. “It’s a great province with capable people. We punch above our weight in most aspects, environmentally and in farming.”

Jon is on the board of Thriving Southland and believes he inherited his approach to farming from his grandfather, who was environmentally and technologically progressive.

When the Council is making important decisions like setting limits, Jon says he wants to make sure people in communities like his, continue to thrive.

“I’m a farmer with a young family, so I understand the importance of making sure we take the whole community with us through the journey of improving our environment for the future generations.”

PAUL EVANS Fiordland Constituency

Paul and his wife Kim were born and raised in Southland. They have three grown children and enjoy mountain views from their home in the Te Anau township, where he is the manager of Mitre 10.

Paul’s family were sawmillers until the 1980s. He grew up in Tuatapere, moving to Te Anau when he was 16-years-old. He started his working life in hospitality before shifting to retail management.

The Waiau River and the surrounding area is his passion. He knows the river from the headwaters in the Eglinton Valley, through to Te Anau, Manapouri, Tuatapere and on to the mouth in Fiordland.

“The flow of that river – everything west of that line makes me who I am.”

Paul enjoys jet boating in the lower reaches of the Waiau and plays a bit of golf. He brings a business perspective to the council and a voice for Southland issues in Fiordland.

“People know me and are willing to talk to me.”

PHIL MORRISON Invercargill-Rakiura Constituency

Phil is a business consultant with a passion for learning. He grew up in Waikaka Valley and had a career away before returning in 2016. He and his wife Jah live in Invercargill and have two grown children.

After high school, Phil jumped at the opportunity to gain a free university education in Australia and live abroad with the New Zealand Army. It’s a career that spanned 25 years.

He met Jah, a Thai national, on his first overseas stint in Cambodia, where he taught mine clearance (1992, UN). Other stints followed: East Timor for the national popular consultation (1999, UN); and Iraq for humanitarian reconstruction (2004).

There was further study in Singapore. He eventually left the military to work at Massey University, lecturing in defence and security, completing an Master of Business Administration while he was there.

More recently, Phil joined the Regional Forum, a community-based group that recommended methods to improve Southland’s freshwater quality to the Council. “We were privileged with some fantastic, rich information.”

“Helping Environment Southland take the recommendations forward is what really motivates me.”

ALASTAIR GIBSON Eastern-Dome Constituency

Alastair is an agricultural mediator and consultant. He and his wife Alison brought up their four children on their 20-hectare property in Riversdale, where they have lived for 30 years.

Originally from Otago, Alastair’s life has always had a rural focus. His father was a sheep and beef farmer and after getting his degree in agri-science he worked in Auckland as an animal husbandry specialist.

Alastair and Alison came south in the late ‘80s to manage a sheep and beef farm near Milton, before moving to their Southland property, where they produce baleage and keep a few sheep.

Up until recent times, the couple had hosted farming groups on educational holidays to either the United Kingdom or North America. Nowadays, they enjoy fourwheel driving together and getting into the back blocks.

People are at the centre of Alastair’s career as a mediator. Being there for the community is what drives him as a councillor. “I was sitting outside making noises and I thought ‘why don’t I get on the inside’.”