Politician's hit Mangawhai on election drive

JULIA WADE

As the national election bears down on the country in just a few days, Mangawhai has seen a number of politicians finding their way into town, holding meetings, talking to locals on street corners and discussing significant issues over coffee in the area’s cafes.

On September 30 Northland MP, Nationals’ Matt King, toured Mangawhai’s cafes to speak with a number of residents involved with a variety of community projects and initiatives.

Individual electorates vying for Northland also congregated in Mangawhai on September 23, for a ‘meet the candidates’ evening hosted by Mangawhai Business Association. The event provided an opportunity for the community to question electorates from what they see as important for Kaipara, to the housing crisis in Northland and the possibility of Auckland ports transferring to Northport, ahead of heading to the polling booths on October 17.

Northland MP Matt King was also questioned about his work over the last three years.

Northland candidates include Mark Cameron (Act), Shane Jones (NZ First), Matt King (National), Willow-Jean Prime (Labour), Darleen Tana Hoff-Nielsen (Greens), Helen Jeremiah (The Opportunities Party), Brad Flutey (Social Credit), Sophia Xiao-Colley (Harmony Network NZ) and Trevor Barfoote (New Conservative).

1:

Sustainable Kaipara directors Sarah Bray and Stephanie Gibson met Matt King at Mangawhai Heads cafe ‘Brewed as Collective’ to talk about their plans for the organisation which formed in July this year. The directors say having the opportunity to talk to the MP about what the organisation would like to achieve in Kaipara ‘was great’.

“We mutually agreed on the importance of funding for community groups to engage community and drive environmental protection,” Gibson says. “To address the environmental issues we face, we need everyone to be on board and work together for positive impact and change.”

2:

Mangawhai Business Association chair Richard Gunson (left) updated King on the Mangawhai Historic Wharf resource consent hearing held recently from the week of September 21, and Northland Regional Council’s staff decision to recommend denying the consent. King was reportedly interested in the decision as he had attended the July event where Shane Jones announced he had allocated money from the Provincial Growth Fund for the project.

Ian Margan (centre) from new community watchdog group Mangawhai Matters, outlined the organisations concerns regarding Mangawhai Central, especially the Unitary Plan change PPC78 which is currently being considered by Kaipara District Council, as well as infrastructure.

King also caught up with Heather Rogan and Jane Vaughan from NZ Fairy Tern Trust, who reportedly commented ‘that this was the first time that any MP had asked to meet with them’ and who showed interest in their conservation work. The women also met Coromandel’s current MP and National’s environmental spokesperson Scott Simpson, and heard about Coromandel’s similar ongoing conservation programmes including efforts to save the banded dotterel.

3:

The NZ First promotion bus rolled into town for a quick visit on September 24 as part of Winston Peters’ Northland tour. The MP chatted with a few locals outside Mangawhai Village shops and posed for photos.