Election 2026: Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, and Waiariki electorate candidate profiles
What is an election if not a job interview with an enormous panel? The Bay of Plenty Times sat down with local candidates to see how well they pitched themselves and their parties for the role of representing our community in Parliament.
Toni Boynton – Labour Party candidate for Waiariki
Why do you want this job and why should we pick you?
I want to ensure that our mokopuna and our tamariki have a voice and leadership that reflects them and the decisions made about them are made with them in mind. They must have a strong representative in Parliament to be able to voice their issues but also the issues of who they are and where they are from.
Read full interview: Solo mum who lived on $40 a week seeks Waiariki seat
Michael Carter – Opportunity Party candidate for Tauranga
Why do you want this job?
I’m standing as the Opportunity Party candidate because we need to start focusing on the future and start making decisions now that are going to benefit future generations. Personally, I’ve been sick of this anti-environmental attitude of the last three years, and the constant flip-flopping between parties is not really helping the country move forward. And so I’m standing because I can either sit on the couch and just complain or I can actually do something. And Opportunity is the party that I support, and I know that Parliament will be better with Opportunity in there, and so I’m doing everything I can possible to help Opportunity get in Parliament, which we will be after November 7.
Read full interview:Free public transport ‘will make the city liveable’, says Tauranga candidate
Sam Connely – Animal Justice Party candidate for Tauranga
Why do you want this job?
I’m here to represent animals, to ensure they have a voice, ensure they’re not ignored when decisions are made when they’re actually very important to New Zealand and to New Zealanders who care greatly about the welfare of animals and I think it’d be fair to say most New Zealanders wouldn’t want to see an animal hurt in any way. And if we can avoid that, which we can, I’m here to try and ensure that happens.
Read full interview: Why should Tauranga vote for Animal Justice’s Sam Connely?
Tracey Coxhead – New Zealand First candidate for Mt Maunganui
Why do you want this job?
I didn’t know I wanted this job. I really did come into politics because I was concerned about what was happening economically, politically and socially in the country. And I just really fell into it, ended up running for council, just being encouraged to do that – didn’t think I’d get in, and I did. Found my feet there, very much so, and really the next thing was New Zealand First for me. I’ve been a member for five years, and it was just a natural progression for me. I really do want to do something to help this country.
Read full interview: ‘I didn’t know I wanted this job’: Why a councillor is running for MP
Rhieve Grey – Labour Party candidate for Mt Maunganui
Why do you want this job?
I want to make a difference for those who are feeling like things are getting really tough right now. I was someone who was raised in communities that know what it’s like to meet challenges such as poverty, houselessness or homelessness, drug addiction, trauma, alcoholism, kind of the works. And so I know what it can be like to be in those communities and not feeling like you can get ahead, not feeling like you’re supported … I want to make my life about making a difference for those people who are in that predicament right now … politics is just probably the vehicle that I see as being the place I can make the most difference for them.
Read full interview: Candidate’s ‘baseline’: Kids shouldn’t go hungry in the Bay of ‘Plenty’
Cameron Luxton – Act Party candidate for Mt Maunganui
Why do you want this job?
I want to see the Act Party as a strong part of the next coalition Government. I think Act is the party that brings the principles, the ideas and the get-up-and-go to actually make it happen. We’ve got a lot of locks on New Zealand’s potential and only Act has the policies to unlock them. So I want to be part of a strong Act team making a difference for New Zealand.
Read full interview: Fewer ministers, ministries will improve accountability and affordability – Luxton
Tim Maltby – Independent candidate for Tauranga
Why do you want this job?
Well, I got involved in politics because of rates, essentially. So then I realised you need to get involved as a politician if you want to change anything. So that’s why I got into council, but as a councillor I realised that a lot of the problems actually come from central government and if you want to fix anything, it’s very limited what you can do as a councillor. You’ve really got to get into Government to do that.
Read full interview: ‘Succession plan’: Independent candidate eye forming new party if elected
Tom Rutherford – National Party candidate for Mt Maunganui
Why do you want this job?
I want this job because I absolutely love this community. I love the privilege I’ve had over the last three years of serving it, being the local Bay of Plenty MP. I feel like I’ve made a really positive difference throughout our community and I want to continue on that path. I have tried to be an MP for everyone, not just some people. I’ve tried to be visible, approachable and hard-working, and I hope people have seen that over the last three years and give me another opportunity to deliver for the new Mt Maunganui electorate.
Read full interview: Learning support co-ordinators for every school by 2028, Rutherford vows
Jan Tinetti – Labour Party candidate for Tauranga
Why do you want this job?
I’m really passionate about Tauranga for a start, and that’s why I keep standing in the Tauranga electorate. I’ve seen the issues Tauranga faces. It’s a beautiful city, but it’s not an equal city for everyone. So for me, it’s about standing up for everyone, but especially those people that don’t generally have a voice, and that’s the people that don’t have the equity of opportunity that other people have. I want to see them thrive. I want to see the whole city thrive. That’s something that’s really, really important to me.
Read full interview: Tauranga is beautiful but ‘not an equal city for everyone’ - Tinetti
Sam Uffindell – National Party candidate for Tauranga
Why do you want this job?
We’ve got the best city in New Zealand. We’ve got such a good city and such a good region, and I want to see us reach our full potential. I think we’ve already made some really good improvements over the last three years. We have a City and Regional Deal underway. We have Takitimu Northern Link stage one and moving towards stage two. We have a new interchange on the Tauranga Eastern Link, State Highway 29 is underway and a new Omanawa Bridge is currently being built as well … Through the fast track, we have a number of housing areas designated, so opening up thousands of more homes over the coming years.
Read full interview: ‘I’ve stood up for them’: Why MP says Tauranga should re-elect him
Pualele Westhead – Green Party candidate for Mt Maunganui
Why do you want this job?
I think it’s really important for people to understand there are other views, there are other ways of governing the country. I think you get on a thing where it’s like we’ve got no money, therefore we can’t do anything. I actually don’t believe that. I think it’s about priorities and I think it’s more about the general public as a group doing well, not just a minority. So I’m standing so people realise there are other options.
Read full interview: Green candidate: People come to NZ for the forests, not the cities
Greer Young – New Zealand Loyal candidate for Mt Maunganui
Why do you want this job?
Why do I want this job? My gosh, I didn’t know I wanted it, but I do. And that’s because as a member of public living in this electorate, I can see what needs doing. And the most important thing for me is that democracy lives, because I’m finding it hard to believe that democracy is still here. What I mean by that is we go and we vote and then it seems to be that we don’t have democracy after that. We don’t have a say of anything after that. And I think it’s very important that we have continuous say in everything that our country decides, the big things and the little things, through choice. And I believe that we need to stay a free country and not be governed by external, unelected undemocratic bodies, which we are.
Read full interview: Candidate says her party only needs one term to sort NZ’s problems
-Act Party candidate for Tauranga Bryan Norton, Green Party candidate for Tauranga Daniel Oosthuizen, Animal Justice Party candidate for Mt Maunganui Caitlin Grattan, Te Pāti Māori candidate and current Waiariki MP Rawiri Waititi, Green candidate Tania Waikato and The Opportunity Party candidate Pāpā Wharewera were also invited to take part in this profile series.