Dominico Zapata/Stuff

Rotoruas famous Lakefront, which is currently in the midst of a multi-million dollar revamp.

In the lead up to the 2020 election, Stuff is keeping voters up to date with whats happening in their electorate, through Neighbourly. Heres what you need to know about the candidates in the running to be Rotoruas MP.

At the October 17 election, New Zealanders have the opportunity to choose their regional spokesperson.

Through the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system, those enrolled can vote for the party they want as well as a local representative.

The person elected will be the voice for your region in Parliament. If youre having trouble getting entitlements or dealing with Government departments, they can help. If your community needs funding for certain projects or activities, or there isnt enough healthcare in the area, the elected MP can step in and help.

To be elected, the candidate needs to secure the most votes.

The electorate covers suburbs including Springfield, Western Heights, Selwyn Heights, Owhata, Ngapuna and Rotorua Central.

He was first elected to Parliament in 2008 after winning the Rotorua seat from the Labour Government with a majority of more than 5,000 votes. Since then he has been re-elected in 2011, 2014 and 2017.

McClay was appointed Minister in the fourth and fifth National governments and has held the portfolios of Minister of Trade, State Owned Enterprises, and Revenue. He has also been the Associate Minister of Health, Tourism, Trade, and Foreign Affairs.

Claire Mahon is an internationally award-winning former human rights lawyer who worked for the United Nations and Amnesty International, who returned to live in Rotorua permanently in 2018. Working out of Digital Basecamp co-working space, shes been active in the community, appointed to the boards of Kai Rotorua and Visions for a Helping Hand. She is one of the founders of Evolve Rotorua, the advocacy group launched in 2019 which focuses on shaping the future of Rotorua.

Deputy Leader of New Zealand First, Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Under Secretary for Disarmament and Arms Control, and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Deputy Chairperson of the Finance Select Committee.

Fletcher Tabuteau has been a member of New Zealand First since its inception. He believes that New Zealand First represents common sense and has always had a forthright and clear direction for New Zealands future encapsulated in the partys name.

Prior to relocating to Rotorua, Alan served as a physical training instructor in the Royal NZ Air Force and has travelled to more than 40 countries.

Devoting 20 years to working in leadership and personal development, he found success as a regional and national award-winning sales and marketing consultant. This taught him valuable business skills and after the crash of 2009 he saw an opportunity to help local business recover.

Sparke is standing as the Green Party candidate for Rotorua to increase the Green Party Vote.

Having experienced some of the inequities in our society at a young age, she realised that politics affects everyone, whether we like it or not. After noticing how our "house of representatives" looks more like a "house of economics degrees and business suits", she thought it might be time to shake things up and get involved.

Inspired by the likes of Angela Davis, she is passionate about social issues and the need for transformational change.

Kirkwood teaches financial, relationship, and mental health skills that empower people to create the lives they wish to have and maximise their personal freedom, and has a wide range of experience including managing a multimillion dollar finance company, in sales, as well as owning small businesses.

He is standing for ACT because New Zealand needs leadership that values the freedom of its individual citizens.

As a teacher educator, Vercoe knows education can be used to harm or heal a nation. She will be committed to initiatives that adequately prepare our children for the real stuff needed to achieve an academic, economic and social success.

She believes ONE Party will provide an avenue to reset the governance over our land, and together, we will make our nation great again.

Vercoe had the skills to work across government departments, and within communities to collectively address issues to do with homelessness-poverty, oranga tamariki, mental health, suicide, educational disparities, and drug addictions, presently crippling our people and nation.

Ward lives in a home of four generations, helping to care for her kuia and her three children. Mana whine and being mm are two of Kiris most important roles.

Her passions include demonstrating what can be achieved when women step into our unique power as whine, promoting holistic health and maintaining hauora to enable all individuals to thrive, a belief that healthy individuals will positively affect the family unit, our communities, regional areas and cities, and therefore our country as a whole.

This story is produced from publicly available content via the electoral office or party websites. If the information is incomplete, please contact social@stuff.co.nz with details.

Stuff

See the article here:
Election 2020: Who are the candidates for the Rotorua electorate? - Stuff.co.nz