A suspect job advert, possible mayoral aspirations, and the 'strong captain'
“I’ve never been a great believer in career planning or anything like that. You just go along in your career and take whatever opens up. So, I’ve had an almost random walk through my career."
Tom Campbell has stepped in as Invercargill’s acting mayor in the absence of Nobby Clark. Tribune editor Logan Savory chatted with Campbell about how the Scotsman ended up in Invercargill, the chances of him standing for mayor at the next election, and what the previous critic makes of the current council.
Tom Campbell walked around for many years with a clipping of a 1981 job advert buried in his wallet.
He would look at it and jokingly ponder if he had a legal case to make.
Campbell, from Scotland, had spotted the job advert in The London Times. It was for an engineer’s position at the aluminium smelter at the bottom of New Zealand.
It was pre-internet days. Campbell says the only info he could find on Invercargill was a page in a book at a local library. It mentioned Bluff Oysters and the smelter at Tiwai Point and that was about it.
“The [London Times] advert began: ‘Come to the balmy south of New Zealand where it is forever spring’.
“I actually cut that out and kept that in my wallet. It eventually deteriorated in my wallet but I’m sure I could have sued,” Campbell jokes about the less-than-accurate reference to Invercargill’s weather.
“You couldn’t do that now, because nowadays people just hop on Google and look at the weather and cameras at the airport, or wherever.”
Campbell and his family also looked at Australia and Canada as possible places to immigrate to from Scotland but settled on Invercargill, New Zealand - simply because that was where there was a job opportunity at the time.
“I would love to say there was some sort of huge calling to come to Invercargill, but I am afraid it just happened to be where the work was.”
Campbell arrived with his wife and then two kids on April 2, 1981. A third “Kiwi” child was born in Invercargill.
They were greeted by a beautiful Invercargill day on their arrival in 1981. It was followed by another just as bright day the next day.
Although Campbell says it then rained for about three months. He started to realise that the job advert that he had answered might not have been exactly accurate.
But Invercargill grew on Campbell, he now loves the city. So much so that close to 43 years on it is home.
Campbell carved out a lengthy corporate career in Invercargill, both in management and governance roles. It included becoming the Tiwai Point smelter’s general manager and heading the Southland Regional Development Agency.
ENTERING POLITICS
Campbell now finds himself involved in local body politics. Almost 43 years on from spotting that job advert in The London Times he’s now Invercargill’s acting Mayor.
Campbell was elected as an Invercargill City Councillor in October 2022 and was appointed by Mayor Nobby Clark as his deputy.
With Clark currently recovering from heart surgery Campbell has been handed the mayoral duties for the time being.
While such a role is something he never set out for when immigrating to Invercargill over 40 years ago, he admits he wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had told him that this is how life would pan out.
“I always take the attitude that you take whatever fork in the road that looks good at the time.
“I’ve never been a great believer in career planning or anything like that. You just go along in your career and take whatever opens up.
“So, I’ve had an almost random walk through my career. If you’d said back then [in 1981] you were going to be [Invercargill’s] Deputy Mayor or acting Mayor, I don’t know I’d have been that surprised, to be honest.
“I’ve just followed whatever way the path took me.”
MAYORAL ASPIRATIONS?
Nobby Clark has publicly stated he only intends to do one term as Invercargill’s Mayor and says he won’t be standing at the next election in 2025.
Naturally many have quizzed Campbell if he will put his hand up to seek election as Mayor when the job is put to the vote in another 20-odd months.
His answer to that more and more common question?
“I’ll make that decision at the end of this year. I’m Celtic enough that I don’t like making predictions too far ahead, so let’s see what the situation is at the end of this year.”
Although Campbell did provide a significant hint during his chat with The Tribune as to where his mind is at this point.
He says if was forced to push a “yes” or “no” button right now, he’d probably lean towards yes, in terms of standing for the Invercargill’s mayoral job.
“But I’m not going to make that decision until we get to the end of the year, and maybe six months before, when campaigning starts.”
FROM CRITIC TO COUNCILLOR
In the lead up to the October 2022 election Campbell was critical of the state of the Invercargill City Council.
He went as far as labelling the council an “embarrassment” saying there needed to be some pride and confidence restored in the council.
Campbell believed the council was moving too slowly and projects were taking too long.
Close to 15 months on from joining the council, after being the second highest polling councillor, he believes good progress has been made.
Campbell says they had to be sensitive around Sir Tim Shadbolt’s health and his situation through the last council term, but he feels a change in leadership at the council table had helped.
Campbell is aware Nobby Clark “wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea” but he believes Clark has been the “strong captain” that has provided the leadership required.
“I think we’ve hit the ground running. I’ve actually got to say I’ve found it easier than expected, to get the council working as a team,” Campbell says.
“None of the previous councillors wanted a repeat of the previous three years. Everybody was determined that this was going to be a successful triennium.
“Everybody was determined they were going to get on with each other and they were going to rise above the petty differences that might have been obvious in the previous council.”
Campbell doesn’t like council decisions decided through a seven to five-vote split. It’s why he is often seen at council meetings searching for compromises to help get to some sort of agreement.
“I wouldn’t want to go with that [7-5 vote]. Even if it was 9-3 or something. [A 7-5 vote], that just inevitably leads to direct conflict.”
Campbell is glad he has entered local body politics. In fact, he now wishes he had done it 10 years earlier.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it to be honest. You do something different every day, you meet new people every day. You meet a lot of people that want your help, some you can and some you can’t.
“If you get a few wins, you feel like you have done something good.”
Despite being a first-term councillor Campbell hasn’t been slow to put his hand up when Clark has been looking for councillors to be involved in certain areas.
He’s taken on climate and housing-type portfolios, amongst other tasks as deputy mayor.
“Obviously having that corporate background does make a difference. The council has over one and half billion dollars in assets and you’ve got a turnover of well over $100m a year. That makes us one of the biggest businesses in Southland.
“It’s an enormous business and people sometimes forget that. If you want to run it efficiently and keep rates down, then it helps to have a corporate background.
“I’m not saying everyone on council should have that, it’s great having people with different backgrounds. But to have a few people like Grant Dermody, you must have people like that on council at any time.”