Red seat within National’s grasp
The Herald continues its series on the battleground seats that could make a difference in this election. Isaac Davison talks to some of the candidates for Hutt South
cided against running again this year and opted to run on the list only.
His replacement, Ginny Andersen, admits she is feeling the pressure of holding on to a red seat.
She initially considered herself an underdog against Bishop, who has three years’ parliamentary experience under his belt. But she said the mood on the street has changed since Jacinda Ardern took over as Labour leader six weeks ago: “It’s like someone flicked a switch.”
Andersen, a policy manager at NZ Police, previously ran in Ohariu and nearly unseated long-serving MP Peter Dunne.
She said the biggest issue in her new electorate was housing affordability. National has reduced the state housing stock in Lower Hutt, partly because many of the houses were earthquake prone or run-down.
Labour is promising to build 400 houses — a mix of state houses and affordable homes — on land where state houses have been demolished.
Andersen is also worried about mental health, saying that underfunding has put pressure on services, and water quality — residents are disappointed the Hutt River isn’t clean enough to swim in safely.
Bishop agrees that housing is the top issue in the area and concedes that supply hasn’t kept up with population growth, a fact he partly attributes to restrictive council rules.
National has made a counter-offer to voters: 700 houses, some of them social or in the affordable range, and the rest sold on the private market.
A former ministerial adviser and Phillip Morris tobacco lobbyist, Bishop is one of National’s rising stars and has had a high profile for a backbencher in his first term.
An energetic campaigner, he began door-knocking in February 2015.
He opened a Wainuiomata office this year, conceding that National had neglected that part of the electorate.
He also set up the Hutt City Youth Awards and has tried to encourage Lower Hutt as a home for tech entrepreneurs — a Kiwi Silicon Valley. The stakes are high for Bishop. The latest polls indicate he may not get into Parliament on the list if he doesn’t win Hutt South.
“I’m more nervous now than in ’14,” he said.
“I really want to be the MP.”