PM Jacinda Ardern announced a raft of policies to support small businesses, including $1.5 billion toward extending the small business loan scheme. Video / Gavin Ogden
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern doesn't make assumptions.
At least, that's what she tells me when asked if the tide is turning in Tauranga - a traditionally National stronghold that appears to now be gaining plenty of Labour traction.
As Ardern arrived at the Tauranga Historic Village yesterday she was greetedto cheers and applause.
One woman stopped Ardern to tell you she was "an inspiration to women everywhere".
Another woman thanked Ardern for all she has done through the Covid-19 crisis.
Image 1 of 15: PM Jacinda Ardern at Tauranga Historic Village.
She puts such a favourable response down to it simply being a beautiful day in the Bay of Plenty.
The Prime Minister and I meet in The Kollective, next door to the village, for a few moments during her whirlwind visit to Tauranga yesterday.Ardern recalls her days "some years ago now" as a Labour list MP based in the Bay of Plenty.
"That's actually how I met Jan and Angie, in that time when Jan was a school principal and Angie was working at the Women's Refuge."
Labour list MPs Jan Tinetti and Angie Warren-Clark, along with Waiariki MP Tāmati Coffey, sit nearby.
In those early days, Ardern worked alongside then list MP Moana Mackey and Rotorua MP (now mayor), Steve Chadwick.
"We covered the whole area," Ardern says.
However, the Tauranga seat has been held by sitting National MP Simon Bridges since 2008, when he took over from former National MP Bob Clarkson.
The seat was previously held by MP Winston Peters who represented NZ First, the National Party and as an independent from 1984 to 2005.
When asked whether she was surprised by such a strong welcome in an area considered to have a safe blue seat, she referred to spending some of her childhood in the Bay, visiting her grandparents.
"I have roots here. So just that background means I don't make assumptions about this place. We see the huge growth that has occurred here and there might be assumptions about that here but I don't make assumptions about people."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she doesn't make any assumptions about people. Photo / George Novak
Ardern disputes the Government has not appropriately recognised Tauranga's economic and infrastructure needs as such a rapidly growing district.
This, she says, is recognised in Government funding through the Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) economic stimulus package, and the Provincial Infrastructure Fund.
"This is a growth area, one of the things [we need to focus on] is how do we manage most of this infrastructure.
"Then if you go to housing, there's an area where there's need. We have increased the number of houses. Just thismorning I was at a papakainga where we invested more than $2m."
However, there is "a lot more to do".
Ardern hinted reference at the Provincial Growth Fund but says no more on this as the interview closes.
Ardern was last in the Bay of Plenty in June, visiting the kiwifruit industry which had managed a bumper crop this season despite the implications of Covid-19.
In response to also being asked whether the tide was turning for Labour in Tauranga, Tinetti says she believes it is.
"We are getting really good responses this time," she says.
"It's very different to the last election ... we are getting amazing feedback. A lot of people are telling us they are going to vote for us for the first time.
"I think people are seeing we need a stable Government at this point in time and they have faith in our leadership. They want to see that still going forward."
Both Coffey and Warren-Clark agreed.
"We have a huge list of things we've done for this community, hundreds of millions of dollars being spent, and people are starting to realise it," Warren-Clark says.
