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Tauranga residents can look forward to extra representation in Parliament with both National’s Simon Bridges and New Zealand First’s Brendan Horan elected.
Simon Bridges won the constituency and once the special votes are counted his majority is expected to be more than 16,000.
New Zealand First list MP Brendan Horan and National constituent MP Simon Bridges are both seeking to represent well the people of Tauranga.
The count on Saturday saw Mr Bridges with 20,147 votes, and Mr Horan and Labour’s Deborah Mahuta-Coyle the next best with 4335 and 4215 votes respectively.
Mr Horan comes into Parliament as the sixth ranked MP on New Zealand First’s list as the party won eight seats with 6.8 per cent of the party vote nationally.
Mr Bridges’ 16,000 vote majority is a large increase on his election win in 2008 when he received about 15,800 votes in total.
“It’s really pleasing to see both my majority and the National Party vote have gone up in percentages in Tauranga.
“I feel I have worked really hard for the people of Tauranga over the last three years and I personally would have been very disappointed if they had dropped.
“I take it as an endorsement that the government and myself are on the right track here.”
In Tauranga, New Zealand First won 15.1 per cent of the party vote and Mr Horan believes it could have been more had it not been for media’s use of some opinion polls.
“The Bay of Plenty Times said we had two per cent and at the time I said to them they should stop taking polls with a show of hands outside National Party headquarters.
“It’s really important we have some responsibility from our news media and reporters because when certain media go out and misrepresent a poll, or say something like ‘there is two per cent in an area’, people then think it’s a wasted vote and it affects the way they vote.
“Who knows what would have happened if certain media outlets would have reported truthfully instead of making up unscientific polls and not quoting me true.
“You have to admit with me here (elected to Parliament), that they were way off base and yet I was saying all along my internal polling shows me I’m more 14-15 per cent.”
Mr Horan is in Parliament though and he intends to work directly for the people of Tauranga as well as on a national basis.
“Even though I’m a list MP, a New Zealand First MP’s duty, and it’s in our founding principles, is to his or her electorate and to the people of New Zealand.
“So I will be conducting myself as if I am an elected MP and because Tauranga needs representation and I will do everything I can, and I’m sure Simon will work with me to ensure Tauranga gets a stronger voice.”
Mr Bridges is receptive to the idea of working with Mr Horan, but he errs some caution.
“I am open minded about working with a range of other local MPs because it may be that there are Green and Labour MPs that are based in the Bay of Plenty as well in the next year or two, and there may be ways to do that, but I think it’s also important to be frank that there are clear differences and while they aren’t personality ones, there are policy differences.”
Mr Bridges and Mr Horan agree the economy is the main issue facing New Zealand.
“We are in for hard times in New Zealand,” says Mr Horan.
“Saturday night was all about the different political parties, but when we woke up on Sunday morning we are all New Zealanders at the end of the day.
“There’s hard times ahead and we can only get through it if we do it together as one people and if politicians are prepared to collaborate together and be solution driven – and I have always been solution driven.”
A barrier to Mr Horan’s passion for collaboration could be party lines as prior to the election National Party leader John Key ruled out a coalition deal with New Zealand First.
Mr Bridges expects there will be opportunities to work together; however, it is unlikely to be on economic issues.
“I have an open mind, issue-by-issue, but I think it’s important to say that the approaches of National and New Zealand First on the economy are quite different,” says Mr Bridges.
“New Zealand First, to put it bluntly, is more left wing and has a view that more government money and government programmes are what makes the difference.
“My view is much more clearly that what we need is less government, less red tape, less regulation and over time less taxation.
“We have never increased a country’s prosperity by more tax and regulation.”
He agrees with Mr Horan that the economy is the main issue for New Zealand.
“The thing that really matters is the economy and jobs and there’s no question the world is in tough times.
“There is no magic wand we can wave around to fix the economy, but we have got to keep pressing in with change that makes our country more competitive and encourages growth.”
Both men are due in Wellington on Tuesday for their parties’ first caucus post Saturday’s general election.
National’s Tony Ryall won the Bay of Plenty electorate with a majority similar to Mr Bridges’ with 22,055; his nearest rival was Labour’s Carol Devoy-Heena on 5335 votes.
Only five National Party MPs won their electorate with more than 20,000 votes; John Key for Helensville, Amy Adams for Selwyn and Simon O’Connor for Tamaki.
National’s Scott Simpson won the Coromandel electorate convincingly with 17,225 votes; his nearest rival was Labour’s Hugh Kininmonth with 5425 votes.
Election Result – Seats in Parliament
| National: 60 |
Labour: 34 |
| Maori Party: 3 | Greens: 13 |
| Act: 1 | New Zealand First: 8 |
| United Future: 1 | Mana: 1 |
Posted on 30-11-2011 09:21 | By 14GK
I think Brenon will have plenty on his plate anyway. Getting rid of the $70M debt on Route K (how?), a 25,000 seat international sports stadium (how and why?) and of course the promised harbour walkway (how and why again?). You’ll need Simon on these three alone Brendon but first do your homework on Route K ’cos you’re seriously lacking the "facts" at the moment. Where’s your office going to be so we can come knocking?