On November 8 the Finnigan family will head to the polling booth like millions of others around the country, to ensure their voice is heard.

The Finnigans have volunteered to be the first in a series of Weekend Sun profiles looking at what issues concern Western Bay residents this election and how they are going to vote. Each person or family will be asked the same six questions
Suzie and Matt Finnigan have been living in Tauranga for 18 months, after living in Peru for five years.
Matt is a school teacher at Otumoetai Intermediate and Suzie is a stay-at-home mother studying for her Masters in Business Administration.

What national issues are important to you in deciding your vote?
'Law and order are quite important to us. The reason we came back from South America was because New Zealand is a really great place to bring up your kids, but when we got back to New Zealand we realised it's not as safe as it used to be,” says Suzie.
'In Peru there are police guards at the banks, kidnappings, electric fences and all the windows are covered with bars. We came back to New Zealand because we didn't want our kids brought up over there and I don't want New Zealand to go like that either.”

What local issues are important to you in deciding your vote?
Suzie and Matt say they have not been in Tauranga long enough to grasp all of the local issues but they say traffic congestion and tagging is concerning.

What is one policy announcement you have liked and why?
Suzie likes National's plan to re-haul maternity care and reinstate a fully-funded 24-hour Plunket phone line.
Both also like National's plan to reduce the minimum employee contribution to Kiwisaver from four per cent to two per cent.
'For us it would make it more feasible. A four per cent contribution looked like a lot of money and for us we just not could afford it,” says Suzie.

What is one policy announcement you have disliked?
Both say they have not seen any policies so far that they have disliked.

Who did you give your party and electorate vote to at the last election?
Matt gave both of his votes to the Labour Party but Suzie did not vote.

Who will you give your party vote and electorate vote to at the next election and why?
Matt is unsure at this stage who he will vote for, but is considering one of the minor parties. Suzie is giving her party vote to National and is considering giving her electorate vote to either Larry Baldock or Simon Bridges.