Tom Rutherford says his agenda is focused on work to “fit the real needs of the Bay of Plenty community”.

To ensure that the region is the best place in New Zealand to live, the newly-elected MP for the Bay of Plenty says cost of living and transport are just some of the thing he will be working on during the next three years.

“Reducing the cost of living, getting the best transport, supporting the health care system, working for education and restoring law and order are the main points of my project.

“To make this project a reality, we need to explore all the potential of the BOP. People feel the country is going backwards and they have voted for a change.”

Talking about security, Tom says New Zealand had the policy that if you do the crime you do the time, “but that is something we didn’t see, especially with young offenders”.

“We will give the police the resources to restore law and order, but also we will work to improve our education system to keep our youth at the schools and as far as we can from a life of crime.”

Another concern for the elected MP is the lack of health workers in the region, which has created a big issue not just in the Bay of Plenty.

“Training new medical people and keeping them in our country is one of our biggest projects, we need to have world-class doctors and nurses here, and that starts by providing them with great working conditions and by paying them what they deserve.”

Creating 22,000 new homes, accelerating the works on SH29 and having better planning of the road works to improve mobility, are some of the necessary infrastructure tasks.

“We want to ensure people spend less time in their cars and more time at the places they want to reach. We can’t afford to lose our small and medium businesses because of the delays from road works.”

“There are a lot of projects on the table, and I will work hard to make all of them happen for the benefit of the Bay of Plenty community.”