Annette Kay Main (born 1951/1952) is a New Zealand local-body politician. She served as

mayor of Whanganui The mayor of Whanganui (previously Wanganui) is the head of the Whanganui District Council. Since 1872, there have been 29 mayors. Andrew Tripe is the current mayor. History The Wanganui Town Board was first formed in 1862, and its first chairma ...

from 2010 to 2016, and was the first woman to hold that office.

Early life and family

Main was born in

Castlecliff Castlecliff is a suburb of Whanganui, in the Whanganui District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. Demographics Castlecliff, comprising the statistical areas of Castlecliff West, Castlecliff East and Balgownie, cove ...

in Whanganui and attended Castlecliff School and Whanganui High School. She trained as a teacher, before becoming a parent. She worked for

New Zealand Post NZ Post ( mi, Tukurau Aotearoa), shortened from New Zealand Post, is a state-owned enterprise responsible for providing postal service in New Zealand. The New Zealand Post Office, a government agency, provided postal, banking, and telecommunica ...

in their public relations department, for the Whanganui District Council as a tourism officer, and then ran a tourism business.

Political career

In 1998 main was elected to the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

Regional Council, where she served for 12 years. During that time she chaired the environment committee and served as deputy chair. In 2010 she was elected mayor of Whanganui, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She was re-elected in 2013. As mayor, she supported the New Zealand Geographic board's decision to change the town's name to include an "h". She did not stand for re-election in 2016, instead successfully pursuing a seat on the

Whanganui District Health Board The Whanganui District Health Board (Whanganui DHB or WDHB) was a district health board that provided healthcare to the Wanganui, Rangitikei, and parts of the Ruapehu districts of New Zealand. In July 2022, it was merged into the national health ...

. Main was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to local government, in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. In 2018 she was appointed to the council of the

Universal College of Learning The Universal College of Learning (UCOL) is a New Zealand Government ITP (Industry Training Provider/Polytechnic) located primarily in Palmerston North but has campuses also in Whanganui, Masterton and Levin. Dr Linda Sissons is the current Ch ...

References

1950s births Living people Mayors of Wanganui People from Whanganui Women mayors of places in New Zealand Year of birth uncertain Whanganui District Health Board members {{NewZealand-mayor-stub