Ardern comes back to her political roots

The rising star of the Labour Party has revisited the city where she first sprouted her political roots.

Jacinda Ardern smiled as she reflected on her time spent in New Plymouth as a young politician.

‘‘It was the first place I ever campaigned for the Labour Party,’’ she said.

‘‘I voted for the first time here. I know there’s a really great team here.’’

Her visit to Taranaki came during a national tour with Labour leader, and New Plymouth hometown boy, Andrew Little.

The pair spoke at Our Place on Friday evening to touch on some of the key issues Labour aimed to tackle as the general election nears.

But for Ardern, New Plymouth was more than a campaign trail stop.

‘‘My aunty’s very involved in the Labour Party and actually campaigned for Andrew, she said.

‘‘When I was young, she got me involved in the party here. I used to drive down on my school holidays and I would board with a lovely lady who still lives here.’’

Ardern said the national tour had taught her how funny Little, a man with a dour reputation, could be.

‘‘I didn’t expect to laugh quite so much.

‘‘With you,’’ she quickly added with a chuckle.

‘‘I think we’re having a fun time, which is good because we have six months of campaigning to go. So it won’t be boring.’’

Their aim was to touch on some of the concerns lingering on Taranaki people’s minds - which included housing, job market and education.

‘‘I think everyone, when they walk into a room, will have their own thing that’s on their mind,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘I just hope that they hear us reflect back that we know about those big issues and we’ve got ideas and that we can give them some hope, and they can walk away feeling that.’’

Little said his biggest fear for the region were jobs.

‘‘I think here the job creation is a big issue,’’ he said.

‘‘Oil and gas has slowed down and some of the manufacturing has slowed down.’’

He referenced recent regional gross domestic product (GDP) figures that showed ‘‘Taranaki has gone backwards’’ and worried people would flee the region if they couldn’t find work.

The cost of housing was also at the forefront of Little’s talk.

‘‘Everywhere I go, people tell me how the housing crisis affects them,’’ he said.

‘‘House prices have risen rapidly and rents have been going up.’’

Taranaki’s median house price sat about $342,500, only slightly below the nationwide median of $382,000, which excludes the Auckland property market.

As for the general election on September 23, Little said he believed New Plymouth’s new Labour candidate Corie Haddock could seize the seat from National’s Jonathan Young.

‘‘He’s tried and testing in campaigning,’’ Little said of Haddock.

‘‘There’s a good group here who will back him. He’ll have a lot of support to run a successful campaign.’’