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Current Rodney Local Board member Guy Wishart has been selected as the Labour candidate for Kaipara ki Mahurangi, currently held by National’s Chris Penk.
Wishart and his wife Michelle are both teachers, although he has a horticultural science degree and has managed orchards and consulted to growers in the past.
He says he believes strongly in social justice and equity.
“A society where families are struggling to stay financially afloat is not one we should tolerate or aspire to,” he says.
“In an electorate like Kaipara ki Mahurangi, there is a wide range of socio-economic levels, from the very wealthy to families who can’t pay their rent, and it is essential that everyone is looked after equitably.”
Wishart grew up in Tauranga, and lived in London, Thailand and India before settling in Kumeu. He is currently the Kumeu Community Action chair and the Kumeu-Huapai Lions Club president.
He has also been a member of North West Country, which is the area’s business association, and was the deputy chair of Kumeu Arts for seven years.
He is an award winning singer-songwriter, who is an APRA Silver Scroll recipient and he won Folk Album of the Year at the New Zealand Music Awards in 2017. He and Michelle established Kumeu Live, a not-for-profit music venue for live music.
He has been actively involved in the establishment of an emergency plan for the Kumeu-Huapai area and is spearheading the development of a flood alert system for the north-west. His family was adversely affected by recent extreme weather events, which resulted in their home being flooded twice in 18 months.
“The building of resilience to extreme weather events is a critical issue for our community and New Zealand as a whole.
“We also need to ensure that schools, roads, reserves and public transport are delivered at the front end of new developments, not years after when the original infrastructure is bursting at the seams and residents are at the end of their ability to cope.”
Nine candidates contested the Kaipara ki Mahurangi seat in 2020. Penk won 20,402 votes 44%), followed by Labour candidate Marja Lubeck who received 15,967 votes (35%). Lubeck, who has served two terms as a list MP, announced late last year that she would not contest this year’s election, which will be held on October 14.
The Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate extends from the Kaipara Harbour in the west to Mahurangi in the east. Communities in the electorate include Kumeū, Warkworth, Wellsford, Snells Beach, Helensville, Waimauku, Huapai, Riverhead and Muriwai Beach.
