Albany ward (local government)

Albany Ward
CountryNew Zealand
IslandNorth Island
RegionAuckland Region
Area
 • Land179.74 km2 (69.40 sq mi)
Population
 (June 2025)[2]
 • Total
205,600
 • Density1,144/km2 (2,963/sq mi)

Albany Ward is an Auckland Council ward which elects two councillors and covers the Hibiscus and Bays and Upper Harbour Local Boards. The two councillors are currently John Watson and Victoria Short for the 2025-2028 term.[3]

Demographics

Albany ward covers 179.74 km2 (69.40 sq mi)[1] and had an estimated population of 205,600 as of June 2025, with a population density of 1,144 people per km2.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
2006124,731—    
2013143,499+2.02%
2018166,854+3.06%
2023190,992+2.74%
Source: [4][5]

Albany ward had a population of 190,992 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 24,138 people (14.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 47,493 people (33.1%) since the 2013 census. There were 93,375 males, 97,008 females and 606 people of other genders in 65,652 dwellings.[6] 3.0% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 39.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 35,697 people (18.7%) aged under 15 years, 33,342 (17.5%) aged 15 to 29, 90,375 (47.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 31,578 (16.5%) aged 65 or older.[5]

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 65.1% European (Pākehā); 6.7% Māori; 2.7% Pasifika; 30.6% Asian; 2.8% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.2% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 92.9%, Māori language by 1.1%, Samoan by 0.3%, and other languages by 31.1%. No language could be spoken by 2.1% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.3%. The percentage of people born overseas was 47.0, compared with 28.8% nationally.[5]

Religious affiliations were 31.8% Christian, 2.0% Hindu, 1.3% Islam, 0.2% Māori religious beliefs, 1.5% Buddhist, 0.3% New Age, 0.2% Jewish, and 1.2% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 55.4%, and 6.2% of people did not answer the census question.[5]

Of those at least 15 years old, 53,556 (34.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 67,665 (43.6%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 34,080 (21.9%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $47,200, compared with $41,500 nationally. 27,738 people (17.9%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 81,450 (52.4%) people were employed full-time, 21,012 (13.5%) were part-time, and 3,384 (2.2%) were unemployed.[5]

Councillors

Albany Ward councillors of Auckland
Incumbent
John Watson
Wayne Walker
Term lengthThree years
Inaugural holderMichael Goudie
Wayne Walker
Formation1 November 2010
Websitewww.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Election Councillors elected Affiliation Votes Notes
2010 1 Michael Goudie Independent 9201
2 Wayne Walker Putting People First 8547
2013 1 Wayne Walker Putting People First 13918
2 John Watson Putting People First 12936
2016[7] 1 John Watson Putting People First 19324[8]
2 Wayne Walker Putting People First 17938[8]
2019 1 John Watson Putting People First 28510[9]
2 Wayne Walker Putting People First 24768[9]
2022 1 John Watson Putting People First 20575[10]
2 Wayne Walker Putting People First 20007[10]
2025 1 Victoria Short Fix Auckland 16410
2 John Watson Putting People First 15449

Election results

Election Results for the Albany Ward:

2025

Albany ward[11]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Fix Auckland Victoria Short 16,410
Putting People First John Watson 15,449
Putting People First Wayne Walker 14,885
Fix Auckland Gary Brown 10,269
ACT Local Samuel Mills 7,771
Independent Dylan Davey 5,108
Independent Kyle Parker 4,977
Independent Callum Blair 3,172
Independent John McCallum 1,372
Informal 105
Blank 1,267
Turnout
Registered 141,257
Fix Auckland gain from Putting People First
Putting People First hold
incumbent

2022

Albany Ward[7]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Putting People First John Watson 20,575 40.43
Putting People First Wayne Walker 20,007 39.31
Independent Locals Victoria Short 14,968 29.41
Your Community Future Jake Law 9,120 17.92
Your Community Future Sylvia Yang 7,298 14.34
Independent Tony Corbett 6,529 12.83
Independent Callum Blair 6,480 12.73
Communities First John Davies 3,189 6.27
Independent Alezix Heneti 1,381 2.71
Informal 87 0.17
Blank 3,073 6.04
Turnout 50,892
Name Affiliation Votes %
1 John Watson Putting People First 19,324 24.4%
2 Wayne Walker Putting People First 17,938 22.6%
Lisa Whyte Auckland Future 15,926 20.1%
Graham Lowe Auckland Future 15,549 19.6%
John Bensch Independent 5,126 6.5%
Alezix Heneti Independent 1,538 1.9%
Blank 3,852 4.9%
Informal 74 0.1
Turnout 79,327

[12]

References

  1. ^ a b "Stats NZ Geographic Data Service". Ward 2023 (generalised). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Subnational population estimates - Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  3. ^ Council, Auckland. "Albany Ward". aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 2019-01-24.
  4. ^ "Statistical area 1 dataset for 2018 Census". Statistics New Zealand. March 2020. Albany Ward (07602).
  5. ^ a b c d e "Totals by topic for individuals, (RC, TALB, UR, SA3, SA2, Ward, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses". Stats NZ – Tatauranga Aotearoa – Aotearoa Data Explorer. Albany Ward (w_07602). Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Totals by topic for dwellings, (RC, TALB, UR, SA3, SA2, Ward, Health), 2013, 2018, and 2023 Censuses". Stats NZ – Tatauranga Aotearoa – Aotearoa Data Explorer. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Local body election nominations close". Radio New Zealand. 2016-08-12. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Ward councillors – Albany Ward confirmed" (PDF). Auckland Council. 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Local board members" (PDF). Auckland Council. 18 October 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Local Elections 2022 - Official Results" (PDF). Auckland Council. 15 October 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Ward councillor official results". Vote Auckland. 18 October 2025.
  12. ^ "Declaration of Results of Election for the Auckland Council 2016 elections" (PDF). Auckland Council. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2025.