Benedict Alvin Ong is a New Zealand local government politician in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is a councillor of the Dunedin City Council, in his first term. He has gained significant media attention following his censure by the council. The city council voted 10–2 on 26 March to request Ong resign, which he rejected. During the meeting, Ong chose to read from Franz Kafka's novel The Trial instead of defending himself.
Early life and career
Benedict Ong has claimed that he was born in Dunedin. He and his family subsequently moved to Australia where he received most of his schooling. Ong later studied finance at the University of New South Wales, graduating with a bachelor of commerce in 2004.
He worked as an associate director in Rabobank Singapore's mergers and acquisitions team between 2007 and 2010. Between May 2013 and December 2017, Ong was employed by the Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) wealth management team in Singapore. In addition, he also worked for the United Overseas Bank (UOB). Ong has also claimed to have held senior leadership positions at the RBC, Rabobank International, UOB and Bank Sarasin-Rabo. These claims have been disputed by Councillor Lee Vandervis, who has accepted that Ong's work experience had included lower-level banking.
Political career
During the 2025 Dunedin City Council election, Ong campaigned on a platform of economic expertise and leadership, citing his investment banking career. On 11 October 2025, he was elected to the Dunedin City Council with 2,596 votes. He also contested the 2025 Dunedin mayoral election, coming eighth place with 16,874 votes. During the 2025 election campaign, Ong was the highest-spending candidate, spending $44,098.72 on his campaigns. Ong was also the subject of a treating campaign involving the distribution of newspapers but the Police declined to pursue the matter further.