Election 2023: New Zealand First puts forward new candidate for Napier seat

New Napier electorate candidate Laurie Turnbull (right) with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at a public meeting in Napier on Sunday. Photo / Paul Taylor

New Zealand First has thrown its hat in the ring during the race for the hotly-contested Napier electorate seat, with new candidate Laurie Turnbull joining party leader Winston Peters at a public meeting on Sunday.

Turnbull will go up against Labour’s Mark Hutchinson and National’s Katie Nimon, after current MP Stuart Nash announced he would not contest the seat at October’s general election.

“Napier, as we know, is an electorate in political meltdown,” Turnbull told around 200 people who attended the meeting at the Napier War Memorial Centre.

“The sad part is now we are a broken democracy. Democracy in this country is a thing of the past. New Zealand First will bring back democracy to New Zealand,” he said.

The two-hour meeting saw Peters cover everything from co-governance and mandates to cost of living and free speech.

It included a question-and-answer session where many audience members voiced concerns over issues facing Hawke’s Bay relating to rising crime, Cyclone Gabrielle, healthcare and education.

“People have had enough of where [New Zealand is] heading and it’s time to make a stand,” Turnbull told Hawke’s Bay Today.

He said that while he had “never really been political”, the absence of New Zealand First after the 2020 election prompted him to continue his involvement with the party after seeing what Labour had produced.

“It’s quite sad really that they’ve used this time to push forward a lot of things where people don’t really have a choice.”

Born and raised in Wairoa, Turnbull said he knew of the struggles people were going through post-Cyclone Gabrielle and highlighted that New Zealand First was looking to get there as part of the campaign.

“It’s about getting people looked after,” he said.

A father of six, Turnbull recently retired as a Corrections officer.

“There’s a guy that’s got experience with law and order, experience with both sides of the story so to speak, and understands the issues, and that’s what we want,” Peters said.

“We’ve got far too many people in politics that have got no experience and no understanding of what our societal concerns [are] and this is a major issue in this campaign.”

Peters said there would “possibly” be further candidate announcements for Hawke’s Bay, a region that also houses the Tukituki and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate seats.

He also told attendees that he would not form a coalition with Labour.

“As you can see from the packed audience, things are looking good for our party,” he said.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.