Taranaki’s voters stuck to the script
The make-up of a coalition government is likely to be several weeks away but Taranaki voters stuck to the script on election night.
In spite of a Labour Party voting surge outside the main centres, two incumbent National MPs, in New Plymouth and Taranaki King Country, were returned, plus a newcomer to politics in Whanganui.
National MPs Jonathan Young, in New Plymouth, and Barbara Kuriger, in Taranaki King Country, had comfortable, although slightly reduced, majorities.
Young received 18,843 votes compared to Labour’s Corie Haddock, who polled 11,567 – a majority of 7276, down from 9778 in
2014.
National took 49.5 per cent of the party vote, with Labour on 33.5 per cent.
Kuriger received 21,372 candidate votes to Labour’s Hilary Humphrey, who took 7378 – a majority of 13,994, down from the
16,773 polled in 2014. National grabbed 59.2 per cent of the party vote ahead of Labour with 22.8 per cent.
Newbie National MP Harete Hipango, in Whanganui, delivered a late night swing to provisionally retain retired MP Chester Borrows’ seat with 15,376 votes, a margin of only 1841, from Labour’s Step Lewis, who polled 13,535 votes.
In the Te Tai Haua¯ uru electorate Labour Party MP Adrian Rurawhe overcame a strong presence from former Kiwi rugby league player Howie Tamati to win the seat with a 1135 majority.
Rurawhe received 8038 votes to Tamati’s 6903.
Young said the lower majority in both New Plymouth and Taranaki King Country was a result of the surge from voters towards Labour in the regions, including locally.
National MPs in many of the major regional centres saw majorities cut back by Labour opponents, he said.
‘‘There was strong support for Corie which was expected and indicative nationally,’’ he said.
‘‘There was a swing of around
10 per cent towards Labour from
2014 but we held our ground. ‘‘Employment issues were also a concern for people in the regions, more so than in the bigger cities like Auckland.’’
Murray Chong’s 2759 votes for NZ First also affected the local result, he said.
Young said he was pleased 1100 non-National voters had supported him.
‘‘That showed we reached across party lines on merit.’’
Young described the election result, and the following 24 hours as politicians got to grips with potential outcomes, as ‘‘momentous’’.
‘‘We will start to see some shape take place in the next few days as everyone becomes more engaged in discussing coalition partners,’’ he said.
The sooner the make-up of the next government is decided, the better, he said.
Much will depend on the counting of more than 400,000 special votes over the next two weeks.
‘‘Once elected I am MP for every person in the electorate regardless of party, and I am able to work around political differences.’’
Young was confident of progressing local issues such as housing in the New Plymouth suburb of Marfell, and more work and educational opportunities for young people.
‘‘I’d like the opportunity to do more in government with regional development, education or employment issues.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next three years.
‘‘People are attracted to come and live in New Zealand and others who are here don’t want to leave, which puts pressure on housing, especially in Auckland.
‘‘The construction industry is at peak capacity but the number of houses being built is three times that of six years ago.
‘‘With more land being opened up, more rezoning and consents, we have shown we are dealing with the problems.’’
Young said there was a segment in society who felt missed out, whether it was in health, housing or employment.
‘‘There is a surplus for the past two years which has allowed more investment for the economy to grow, and all New Zealand can get a dividend from that growth.’’
Kuriger, the National junior whip in the last government, celebrated with party supporters at the Te Awa¯ mutu Golf Course on Saturday.
She said she was keen to work hard to close the rural urban divide.
Opposition parties during the election campaign had unfairly targeted farmers for poor water quality in rivers and streams, and driven a gap between rural and urban sectors, she said.
‘‘It is a concern and I felt it because I am a farmer and also an MP.
‘‘I will work hard to close that rural/urban divide that had spread from the debate on water.’’
Kuriger said it had been a good campaign for her.
‘‘It’s been a three-year job for me and so I’ve been able to get out and about for the last three years and get around the electorate and visit the 60-plus communities.
She believed in working with all Members of Parliament on both sides of the House to achieve progress, she said.
‘‘I worked hard not to burn any bridges because we all need to work together.’’
She would also focus on getting more people into skills and trades which was a ‘‘real biggie’’.
‘‘It is important for the provinces we keep our young people aware of the jobs that are available locally where there is affordable housing and a better living environment,’’ she said.
Rural broadband, roading, more rural policing staff, export markets for primary produce, primary health care, and tourism would also be on her list of targets, she said.
Labour’s Corie Haddock congratulated Young at the National Party celebrations.
Haddock said he was determined to run again because the seat was ‘‘winnable’’ for Labour.
Haddock said the result was disappointing because he had been in the race to win.
‘‘We took some votes off Jonathan which was good and we did everything we could to win the seat. We will sit down and lick our wounds and see how we can win this place.’’
He thanked his supporters for the ‘‘incredibly hard work’’.
‘‘I’m not going anywhere. Next time it will be you guys coming over to my headquarters,’’ he told National supporters.
NZ First New Plymouth candidate Murray Chong received the third highest number of candidate votes with 2759, and a party vote of
2843.
Chong said it was a good result because he had only campaigned for four weeks before the election.
He was pleased NZ First was in the position of ‘kingmaker’ in deciding the next government.
‘‘It means we can get our policies to work for the best for the people of New Zealand.’’
The final result left Green Party candidate Stuart Bramhall ‘‘bewildered".
Bramhall said she had campaigned to encourage voters to give their party vote to the Greens.
‘‘A vote for me was a waste of time so I tried to tell people to tick party vote Greens, but it didn’t make a difference. I went to bed when my vote was increasing ahead of the party vote.’’
Bramhall polled fourth highest in the electorate with 1653 votes, while the Green Party received
1472 party votes.
‘‘But the number of Green Party swing voters freaked out when they saw Labour lose support in the polls and switched their support.’’
Bramhall said the party had also failed to convince traditional non voters to get out and vote.
Independent candidate Basil Lawrence, who had a campaign budget of $300, said he was ‘‘pleasantly surprised’’ with the 125 votes he received.
‘‘I was pleased to see I got to three figures but I’m not happy with the result nationally.’’ He criticised non-voters. ‘‘Those who did not vote should be ashamed of themselves.
‘‘They can’t moan if they don’t exercise their democratic right.’’
ACT Party’s Anneka Carlson received 382 votes.