13 Facts About Dick Hubbard

Richard John Hubbard was born on 18 November 1946 and is a New Zealand businessman and politician, founder and former principal of Hubbard Foods in Auckland, and mayor of Auckland City from 2004 to 2007.

Dick Hubbard was elected mayor of Auckland City on 9 October 2004, succeeding John Banks, who in turn succeeded Hubbard as mayor on 13 October 2007.

Dick Hubbard was educated at Paeroa College from 1960 to 1964, and then studied at Massey University from 1965 to 1969, graduating with a Bachelor of Technology.

Dick Hubbard spent a few years managing the Food Processing Factory in Niue, processing mainly lime, passionfruit and papaya.

Dick Hubbard was the principal until he sold the business in 2018 to Harry and Graeme Hart.

Dick Hubbard has been a supporter of Outward Bound in New Zealand.

Dick Hubbard was elected as part of a broad swing to the centre-left in the 2004 Auckland City local government elections, predicated on concerns about the style of the previous mayor, and proposals to construct a major new multi-laned road through the city's relatively affluent eastern suburbs.

Dick Hubbard was defeated by John Banks in the 2007 local body elections, by a margin of 10,000 votes.

Dick Hubbard won 35,314 of the votes compared to Bank's 45,387 votes in an election marked by low voter turn-out.

Dick Hubbard endorsed the Labour Party prior to the 2017 general election, appearing in a series of promotional videos and donating $15,000 to the campaign.

Dick Hubbard stated that he regarded himself as a swing voter and had voted for both National and Labour previously, but was "very concerned about our slow progress on climate" under the incumbent government.

Dick Hubbard donated $100,000 to the Labour Party in May 2023.

Dick Hubbard was conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Massey University in 1999.