Susan O'Regan
{{Short description|New Zealand politician}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Susan O'Regan
|honorific-suffix =
|image = Susan O'Regan.jpg
|alt =
|caption =
|order1 = 5th
|office1 = Mayor of Waipa
|term_start1 = 2022
|term_end1 =
|predecessor1 = Jim Mylchreest
|successor1 =
|birth_name = Susan Catherine O'Regan
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1972|04|26|df=y}}
|birth_place = Rukuhia, New Zealand
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = National
|spouse = John Hayward
|parents = Katherine O'Regan
Neil O'Regan
|children =
|residence =
|occupation =
|alma_mater = University of Otago
}}
Susan Catherine O'Regan (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician serving as the mayor of Waipa since 2022.
Early life
O'Regan was born and raised in Rukuhia. Her mother was Katherine O'Regan, a National MP who represented {{NZ electorate link|Waipa}}. She boarded at Waikato Diocesan School in Hamilton and King's College in Auckland, and later graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts. She briefly worked for Murray McCully as a ministerial assistant in parliament before starting a legal career in Auckland,{{cite web |url=https://www.kingscollege.school.nz/media/460053/Kings-Courier-Winter-2016.pdf |title=Celebrating farming excellence |page=43 |work=King's Courier |publisher=King's College |date=2016}} being admitted to the bar in 1996. After marrying a farmer, she ended her legal career in 2010 to focus on family and farming.{{cite web |url=https://timeforchange.nz/who-am-i/ |title=Who am I? |first=Susan |last=O'Regan |date=June 2022}} Their farm, Judge Valley Dairies, has won multiple awards at the Waikato Farm Environment Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/cropping/68056731/sustainability-comes-from-the-heart |title=Sustainability 'comes from the heart' |date=28 April 2015 |work=Stuff |first=Gerald |last=Piddock}}{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/78727789/agriculture-the-most-noble-of-professions |title=Agriculture the most noble of professions |date=11 April 2016 |work=Stuff |first=Gerald |last=Piddock}}
Political career
O'Regan was asked to run for the Taranaki-King Country electorate in the {{NZ election link|2014}} after Shane Ardern announced his retirement, but she turned it down after becoming pregnant. In 2016, she was elected to the Kakepuku ward of the Waipa District Council.{{cite web |url=https://www.cambridgenews.nz/2021/06/focus-on-susan-oregan/ |title=Focus on ..... Susan O'Regan |date=3 June 2021 |work=Cambridge News |first=Mary Anne |last=Gill}} She was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and chaired the council's Strategic Planning and Policy Committee.{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/129181733/fresh-leadership-and-mana-whenua-support-promised-by-waip-mayoral-hopeful-susan-oregan |title='Fresh' leadership and mana whenua support promised by Waipā mayoral hopeful Susan O'Regan |date=6 July 2022 |work=Waikato Times |publisher=Stuff |first=Aden |last=Miles Morunga}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/waikato-news/news/waipa-councillor-susan-oregan-announces-candidacy-for-mayoralty/7ZGWNY4TPACM5M2J57BENA2MR4/ |title=Waipā councillor Susan O'Regan announces candidacy for mayoralty |date=23 June 2022 |work=Waikato Herald |publisher=New Zealand Herald}}
In April 2022, O'Regan announced that despite speculation that she would run for mayor like her mother had in 1995,{{cite web |url=https://www.teawamutunews.nz/2022/10/oregans-win-was-down-to-business/ |title=O'Regan's win was ... Down to business |date=13 October 2022 |work=Te Awamatu News |first=Mary Anne |last=Gill}} she was retiring from politics to work for DairyNZ. She also ruled out contesting the parliamentary by-election for Tauranga, an electorate her mother had unsuccessfully run for twice after her own Waipa seat was abolished.{{cite web |url=https://www.teawamutunews.nz/2022/04/oregan-i-wont-stand/ |title=O'Regan: I Won't Stand |date=7 April 2022 |work=Te Awamatu News |first=Mary Anne |last=Gill}} However, in June she changed her mind, staking her political career on an "all or nothing" campaign for mayor.{{cite web |url=https://www.teawamutunews.nz/2022/06/oregan-challenges-mylchreest/ |title=O'Regan challenges Mylchreest |date=23 June 2022 |work=Te Awamatu News |first=Mary Anne |last=Gill}} In October, she defeated the incumbent Jim Mylchreest, becoming the first female mayor of the district and the first to oust an incumbent.{{cite web |url=https://www.cambridgenews.nz/2022/10/susan-oregan-elected-waipa-mayor/ |title=Susan O'Regan elected Waipā mayor |date=8 October 2022 |work=Te Awamatu News |first=Mary Anne |last=Gill}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:ORegan, Susan}}
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Women mayors of places in New Zealand
Category:People educated at Waikato Diocesan School
Category:People educated at King's College, Auckland
Category:University of Otago alumni
Category:20th-century New Zealand farmers
Category:21st-century New Zealand farmers