National's Ōtaki electorate candidate Tim Costley. Photo / David Haxton
Three years ago, National’s Ōtaki electorate candidate Tim Costley was at the Waikanae Bowling Club watching the votes roll in.
He was up against Labour’s Terisa Ngobi, and he said for a while, things were looking pretty even.
That was until votes from the Levin Public Library came in, and Ngobi’s numbers spiked, and Costley knew he had lost it.
“Suddenly it jumped to a margin of a hundred odd, and then it changed by about 500, and I was like ‘that’s it’.”
In the end, Costley lost by about 3000 votes, and though he said the defeat was disappointing, “those are the rules of the game”.
“I knew that this is a swing seat, and I knew that I would be fighting against the times,” he said.
“And I hoped the work I had done locally would be just enough to get in front of that red wave.
“Obviously, it wasn’t quite, but we got closer than most... and at a candidate level we did really well.
“It was probably hardest thinking about the family, and what I put them through, especially the kids, and all that they had sacrificed.”
Despite that loss, Costley said within a week he knew he wanted to try for the seat again.
“I have been knocked back many times in my life and have never given up at the first obstacle.”
After his loss, he went back to his career in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and said he landed the best job of his career as a commanding officer.
“My bosses said, ‘we see how hard you work behind the scenes, and if the community won’t have you, we will’.”
Costley was actually the first New Zealand officer sent over to Europe, in response to the situation in Ukraine, where he worked to connect the dots between the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Nato, and Ukraine.
But now that the election is approaching, he’s taken leave, and instead of flying planes and helicopters, he’s campaigning on train station platforms, visiting various businesses and community groups, and door-knocking.
“I keep working as though I was the MP,” Costley said. “The average Kiwi isn’t going to approach their local MP”.
And so the key thing he’s doing is knocking on thousands of doors.
During the last election, Covid meant he was only able to knock on 7000 doors, but now he spends every afternoon door-knocking - and plans on exceeding that number.
“What I have always done, and haven’t changed, is just the old-fashioned stuff,” Costley said.
“It’s knocking on doors, and turning up to community groups and business, and the odd person might tell you to bugger off, but most people are grateful that someone’s taking the time to come and see them.”
Costley said he sees a lot of issues facing the Ōtaki electorate, and the biggest one he wants to tackle is the cost of living.
“The feedback I get is that people are facing same challenges, and the biggest thing is the cost of living - petrol prices, groceries, rent, mortgages.”
Another obvious issue is the road to Levin.
“They [Labour] still haven’t committed the full funding, they have committed $1.5 billion, but they know, and have known since last year, that the cost is close to $2 billion, but they won’t commit that.”
Costley said he has visited several businesses throughout the Ōtaki electorate that have been ram-raided, or victims of aggravated burglaries, and said it’s a big issue.
Last week, he visited a number of businesses in the Levin Shopping Centre and said its obvious retail crime has skyrocketed.
“People really feel unsafe.”
But he’s also noticed one huge challenge.
“The books are in really bad shape.
“Our net debt has gone from $5 billion in 2019 to $73.3 billion today.
“I’d love to stand here and say that we’re going to do the Peka Peka interchange, and I’m going to fight like hell for it, but I can’t say I’m going to deliver multiple millions to do it, because we can’t afford it.
“We have to get [the debt] down.”
Costley said he stands out from other candidates because of his strong work ethic, and he uses a lot of the skills he gained in the air force in the political field.
“I think the thing that sets me apart is the fact that I turn up, work hard, and am active in the community.
“The feedback I consistently get on the doorstep, the markets, and the shops, is that I’m the one guy that’s actually turning up and doing stuff.”
He’s always believed in what National stands for, and always knew he wanted to be part of the party.
He actually knew Christopher Luxon before either of them was in politics.
“I want to be part of their team; I see the direction they’re taking New Zealand in and that motivates me.
“I care about the country my kids are growing up in.”
Outside of politics, Costley has a pretty busy life.
He and his wife, Emma, live in Waikanae with their three daughters, Lucy, Rebecca, and Alice.
At 43 years of age, he’s spent 22 years in the air force, and has been stationed in Afghanistan, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and many more.
And outside of work he enjoys music - in fact, he made a viral music video when he was peacekeeping in East Timor which has more than a million views.
And something people might not know about him is that he wrote a song that was a finalist in the 2012 Olympic theme song competition.
Costley feels optimistic about his chances in October’s election, but regardless of whether he gets in or not, he’s sure of something.
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.”