Hospital pledge kicks off campaign
Labour Party candidate for Nelson Rachel Boyack has launched her campaign for this year’s general election, pledging to work with the Minister of Health to secure investment in a new hospital.
‘‘Nelson needs a new hospital,’’ Boyack told the crowd at her campaign launch at Ta¯ hunanui Beach on Thursday. ‘‘Our hospital has 50-year-old buildings that need replacing, and nurses working in cramped spaces.’’
Transport was another priority in a ‘‘long list’’ that Boyack said she wanted to deliver on for Nelson.
‘‘As your local MP, I will work with both our councils [Nelson City and Tasman District] to improve our public transport, and seek support from central government for new public transport, cycling and walking.’’
It is Boyack’s second attempt to win the Nelson seat. She was also the Labour candidate for the 2017 election, finishing second to seasoned incumbent National MP Nick Smith, who is also running again and pushing for a new hospital. Labour won the party vote in 2017.
Boyack has long focused on housing, calling it her top priority in November, when she was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the 2020 election.
‘‘Here in Nelson, we are still seeing the effects of nine years of neglect under the previous National government, especially in housing,’’ Boyack told the crowd on Thursday.
She said that every week, she was contacted by a Nelson family ‘‘desperate for a place to call home’’.
‘‘If National had built the number of state houses every year that we are now building here in Nelson, we wouldn’t be in this mess. We need to keep building state houses so that all Nelson families have a warm, dry home to live in.’’
The region also needed ‘‘decent’’ jobs and more training opportunities, she said.
‘‘Nelson still has a reputation for ‘sunshine wages’,’’ Boyack said. ‘‘I’ve spent many years in Nelson negotiating wage increases for workers at some of our biggest employers.
‘‘I’ve also campaigned successfully to keep important programmes running at NMIT, like adventure tourism. I will be a champion for strong vocational education and well-paid jobs in the region.’’
Boyack listed some priorities she said Labour had delivered on, including investment in mental health services and state housing, along with more police and nurses. The Labour-led Government had also lifted the minimum wage and passed the Zero Carbon Bill, she said.
‘‘We’ve started, and I’m the first to acknowledge we have much more to do.
‘‘We can’t get it all done in one term, and so voters have a choice this election – to stick with the winning team that is making steady progress towards a fairer New Zealand, or to return to the team that left us with a housing crisis, growing inequality, an infrastructure deficit and dirty rivers.’’
‘‘We have much more to do. We can’t get it all done in one term.’’ Rachel Boyack, Labour candidate