Named after a popular trout fishing river, the electorate comprises the communities of Hastings, Havelock North, and Flaxmere. The southern boundary extends to Pourerere and the northern boundary includes Te Awanga and Cape Kidnappers. The winning candidate in the 2011 election, Craig Foss (National Party), captured a majority (58.4 per cent) of the 33,171 valid electorate votes cast for candidates in the Tukituki electorate. The candidates standing this year are: (Information provided by candidates unless stated otherwise):
Craig Foss
National Party
I am proud to be your MP, always relentlessly positive for Hawke's Bay. It's an honour and privilege to represent you, your family and Hawke's Bay in Parliament and around the Cabinet table.
I've been part of a Government that has achieved a budget surplus, 3.8 per cent growth, supported first-home buyers and increased superannuation by about $250 a fortnight. This has been made possible by prudently managing the economy through the recession, Global Financial Crisis and earthquakes.
This election is the opportunity to continue our plan and realise Hawke's Bay's awesome potential.
Families are at the forefront of my mind. I work hard to increase job opportunities for you, your children and grandchildren. The roll-out of ultra-fast broadband is enabling 200 jobs at a new Kiwibank service centre in Hastings. Hawke's Bay needs to embrace opportunities that lead to further job growth, such as the Ruataniwha water scheme, an airport runway extension, an oil/gas industry and free trade agreements.
Our National team, led by Prime Minister John Key, has delivered results on the issues that matter. But there is still much more to do. Give your party vote to National and your electorate vote to Craig Foss.
Anna Lorck
Labour Party
As a regional New Zealander, who has lived and worked here all my life, I want to see us break through the boundaries that keep Tukituki and our region in the background. To achieve this we need a stronger voice at the decision-making table.
I believe positive change starts at the grassroots and we must work together with an active government partnering with us for greater regional growth to improve our economy and social well-being.
I am standing for Parliament for Tukituki because it's time to put the oil in the engine for hard-working New Zealanders and your families who live here. I am committed to getting a regional plan that grows jobs for locals first and creates affordable homes, safer communities and investment back into families.
With a family of five school-aged daughters, my heart is in education and I am just as passionate about rebuilding a world-class education system that feeds and expands the growing minds of our nation, supporting children, teachers and parents.
A future, where all our children grow up knowing, no matter where you come from there is always something better out there, if you are prepared to work for it.
Stephen Jenkinson
Conservative PartyNew Zealand in the past was the best country in the world to live in, but that is no longer the case. Poor governance by the major parties has seen a tragic decline in nearly all indicators of social well-being and prosperity.
We need to reclaim our nation, we need to vote for a party that has our values, we need to end the social experiments and political correctness and return to the values of the past. Values that made this country great.
The Conservative Party will:
1) Make our streets safe with tougher penalties for criminals.
2) Make referendums binding. So when the Government spends $9 million of your money to find out what you think, they will have to do what you say.
3) Have one law for all. Abraham Lincoln said: "A nation divided against itself cannot stand." We need to end the "creeping apartheid" and treat all New Zealanders as equals.
4) Reform the tax system and end government waste. We have a bloated bureaucracy in Wellington and it needs pruning. The Conservatives want the first $20,000 of income to be tax-free.
Don't waste your vote this election. Vote Conservative, not just for yourself but for your children and grandchildren.
Chris Perley
Green Party candidateChris Perley was born into a farming family on the East Coast and grew up in Hawke's Bay but, after 27 years living in the South Island, returned home six years ago. He is extensively published, and his passion is realising the potential of a region, and the strategies we need to make that happen by linking community, environment and economy.
He joined the Green Party in early 2012 because they demonstrated by far the best understanding that a strong and fair society, with a strongly functioning environment, goes hand in hand with a high-value economy. Degrading society and the environment always results in a degraded economy.
Chris has a background in land use strategy and practice; land use economics; regional economic and community development; linking economic, social & environmental outcomes; policy analysis, and research.
Chris has worked as a forester and agricultural adviser in the NZ Forest Service, a senior policy analyst from the age of 31 in the Ministry of Forestry, a private land use policy consultant, and a university researcher. He was made the youngest Fellow of the NZ Institute of Forestry in 2009, is past vice-president NZIF, and past editor of NZ Journal of Forestry. You can follow some of his thinking on his blogsite, chrisperleyblog.wordpress.com.