Christine Garey. Photo: supplied

The five biggest spenders vying for a seat at Dunedin's council table were elected.


The Dunedin City Council has released the list of donation and expenses from this year's local government election.

It shows Christine Garey spent $54,641.56 on her campaign, which was covered by a donation from the Garey Family Trust.

Her mayoral bid was unsuccessful, but she was re-elected to the council and later appointed Deputy Mayor.

The second biggest spender was Andrew Whiley, who spent $40,341.71.

He received $13,154.85 in donations and was re-elected to the council.

He was followed by newcomer Jules Radich, who was elected to the council for the first time.

Mr Radich spent $29,101 and received $12,006 in donations from the Golden Centre for print ads.

Chris Staynes was re-elected to the council and spent $23,975.29, while Lee Vandervis was also elected and spent $15,799.84, although he was disputing some advertising cost.

Meanwhile, two candidates did not spend a cent.

Jim O'Malley was re-elected to the council, while Neville Jemmett did not make the cut.

The three Green Party candidates, who campaigned together, collectively spent $13,743.13.

Aaron Hawkins was elected Mayor, and Marie Laufiso was re-elected to the council, while fellow candidate Scott Willis missed out.

They received combined donations of $2000 worth of in-kind design services.

Candidates for the Otago Regional Council spent much lower than their city council counterparts.

The biggest spender was Michael Laws at $7926.34. The Cromwell-based former mayor topped the Dunstan electorate with 10,244 votes.