Viewpoint – Back to work

My greetings to you all, and for those of you who don’t yet know me, I’m a NZ First list Member of Parliament and have lived in Warkworth and Matakana for over two decades. with my daughter growing up here, alongside her cousins in our unique slice of Kiwi paradise. I’m an experienced second term MP with my party returning to Parliament following the general election, after being voted out three years ago. To return to Parliament is no mean feat. There was an extraordinary effort from party faithful to rebuild the party and undertake a grassroots campaign across the nation over the past two years.

My gratitude to all my local supporters and those in our wider region who voted for NZ First because you had a strong desire to change the direction of the country. I would like to acknowledge my fellow Kaipara ki Mahurangi candidates. who put themselves forward to represent their respective parties during the election campaign. Our local debates were generally respectful, well attended events and congrats to all the moderators who hosted local debates for enabling democracy at the grassroots to function well. Congratulations to Chris Penk in again being elected as the electorate MP.

Politics is a contest of ideas, and the campaign trail can be a playground of robust and rowdy discussion. I was heartened to find mutual respect between the candidates and wish to thank them for that. After one busy Saturday night during the campaign that saw political hoardings smashed across the region, a bipartisan approach was taken to repair the damage. Cheers to Zephyr Brown, from the Greens, for pitching in with his power tools to help restore order!

At the time of writing, we are deeply involved in coalition negotiations after the special votes were counted and the full effect of the vote was known on Friday. November 3 – it was then we were able to proceed expeditiously. Winston Peters is leading our negotiations to secure meaningful policy gains in the formation of the coalition government.

NZ First campaigned on driving innovation in the funding of infrastructure that is based on timely delivery and building economic resilience into our communities. There is no doubt that infrastructure challenges bedevil many regions across the country and Mahurangi is growing quickly. The economic growth expected in our region will provide opportunity for local residents and business, and those outside the region will also bring value and money into our communities.

Coalition negotiations, in part, require a pivot from our unique party differences to party policy common ground that will enable a workable governing arrangement. For example, in agriculture there’s a high level of alignment between the three parties to strip back unworkable regulations to get our primary sector pumping again. While this is a nationwide issue for our farmers, locally there will be benefits for our productive sector in cutting the red tape.

Over the next three years I look forward to working constructively with Mr Penk and advocating on your behalf to ensure the voice of Mahurangi is heard in Wellington.