Penk vying to replace Key
The man can make pasta from scratch and is vying to move into the seat left vacant by John Key.
National Party candidate Chris Penk intended to win Helensville with leadership and advocacy skills.
Penk said he learnt leadership during his time as a naval officer, and advocacy skills as a lawyer.
His interest in politics began at the age of 16 but he didn’t join the party until 2008.
The 37-year-old ran in the Kelston electorate in 2014 and received a total of 9724 votes. He lost to Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni who received 15,091 votes.
Penk said the personal values he held helped him find a home with National.
His views on abortion were on par with the current law and he wouldn’t support a change to it.
A baby should have as many human rights inside the womb as it did outside of it, he said.
The Glen Eden resident said he was running in Helensville because of its diversity.
‘‘It’s a real mix so I think from that point of view, it’s very exciting and a very challenging sort of environment more so than other Auckland-based electorates.’’
Penk said the main issue in the electorate was ‘‘transport, transport and transport’’.
He said investment was already taking place to help but more was needed.
A commuter train service needed to get up and running to the nor-west, Penk said. It would be a relatively ‘‘easy win’’ as the rail line was already there.