Whangārei and Northland electorates returned to National

The new Northland MP, National’s Grant McCallum (centre), celebrating with his children Jeremy (left) and Eve the morning after getting elected. Photo / Tania Whyte

Infrastructure, including four-laning State Highway 1 south of Whangārei, getting more GPs for the region and dealing with crime issues, is one of the priorities for returning Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti.

But a new multi-million-dollar hospital for Whangārei won’t be built in the next three-year term, but the first sod should at least be turned, Reti, likely to be the new Health Minister, said.

Reti swept back in as the elected MP for the electorate on Saturday night with 17,922 votes, a majority of 10,010 over Labour challenger Angie Warren-Clark (7912 votes). All election night results are preliminary results, with the final status declared on November 3.

And yesterday, the morning after his big night, and after watching the All Blacks beat Ireland in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final, he said it was important the new Government was formed as soon as possible so it could get on with its plans and make the change the country demanded.

“Infrastructure, and particularly roading infrastructure, is one priority for me. We have the fourth-worst rate in the country of potholes per 100 kilometres of state highways, and I will be pushing Waka Kotahi [NZ Transport Agency] for what their plan is to deal with Northland’s shocking road surfaces.

“Four-laning SH1 is crucial, and our plan includes four-laning from Whangārei to SH15 and from Warkworth to Wellsford, and the third part is building up resilience for the Brynderwyns, which is a very big priority. That SH1 route is such an important link for Northland.”

National Party Whangarei candidate Dr Shane Reti (right) and partner Yvonne Lyons after it became clear that Reti had retained the seat on Saturday night. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

He said National will pick up the four-laning plan from where it was left when Labour was voted in 2017, and he did not think it would take much to make a start on the four-laning this term.

However, regarding a new Whangārei hospital that Labour committed $759 million towardsd building, Reti said he would have to make sure the finances were in place for it before it could be progressed, but he was committed to a new base hospital for the region at Whangārei.

“We need to start that upgrade as soon as possible, but if I’m Minister of Health, I need to make sure that the money the last Government said it had put aside for the hospital is really and truly locked in for it. I also need to see what stage the proposal is at, what work has been done and what needs to be done.”

He will have a review of the health system and would get rid of the Māori Health Authority.

He said best case scenario the first sods for the new hospital would be turned this term, but given that the government coffers may be fairly empty, National had been very careful with what it had promised in the lead-up to the election.

"Our first priority is to balance the books and grow the economy."

Another priority for him would be getting more GPs for Northland and the rest of the country and increasing access to primary care for all.

He said another big issue was safety at the country’s emergency departments, and he hoped to have security guards in place at all EDs.

Reti said having National’s Grant McCallum as the new MP for Northland meant the region would have two strong voices in Government pushing to get the best for Northland.

Warren-Clark said she had enjoyed the campaign, and she and her team of volunteers had a lot of fun at the hustings even though she came into the campaign as new candidate, although she is originally from Northland.

“We did the very best we could, knowing that people didn’t realise that I came from up here and was coming back home. We ran a clean campaign. We knew it would be hard, but we did a great job.”

She said with her spot at number 43 on the Labour’s party list, she would not be back in Parliament, but did not rule out running again in 2026, and she said she’ll be keeping an eye on Reti and National to make sure they deliver what they promised.

Warren-Clark said she was certain that the money had been put aside for a new hospital, and she wanted the incoming Government to get on with it as soon as possible.

“My friend Shane Reti and I have had a good working relationship and he’s a lovely man, but I will be keen to hold them to account. We don’t need any more delays [with the hospital].”

She thanked her team for their efforts, and also all the candidates who stood.

“I know it’s not an easy thing to do, especially for those that have fulltime jobs as well, but they all did amazingly well.”

Labour’s Whangārei candidate Angie Warren-Clark (from left), the party’s Northland candidate Willow-Jean Prime and former Whangārei MP Dr Emily Henderson outside the party’s election night HQ. Photo / Tania Whyte

Northland electorate

Grant McCallum took back the Northland seat from Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime with 14,245 votes, for a majority of 5692, against his rival’s 8553 votes.

McCallum said he was honoured and humbled that the people of Northland had put their faith in him and his party, but it was also quite daunting.

“It’s a huge responsibility, and Northland has quite a lot of challenges and big issues that we can’t fix overnight. We need to see what state the economy is in, and we are going to have to really justify any spending we do.”

He said roading was the number-one issue for Northland and he would work with Reti to ensure the region’s appalling roads got as much attention as possible to bring them up to standard. McCallum also wanted the four-laning project to start as soon as possible, and he said all Northland MPs needed to work together to get the best for the region.

“We’re going to have quite a few MPs based in Northland, from the different parties, and I think we can all work together for the good of the region. If somebody has a good idea, I don’t care what colour they come from - if it’s a good idea, we should look at it.”

He said access to Northland via its state highways should not be at the mercy of heavy rain and he would be pushing for the highway to be improved at the Brynderwyns and Dome Valley.

“That’s one of the huge frustrations up here. Every time it rains, we’re worried SH1 will be blocked and cut us off from the rest of the country again. We can’t keep doing that.”

Prime was greeted by a round of applause from supporters on Saturday night when the results were known.

She said that what happened to her on the campaign trail was “downright dirty politics”.

“It wasn’t the general public, but some supporters of other candidates who thought it was okay to sound threatening and bullish and racist. When I was back home at night, I kept thinking about what had happened and decided to call it out. That’s why the nature of our campaign changed,” Prime said.

She recalled an instance when a Labour volunteer was told that she was wearing the wrong party shirt and that “all those Labour [supporters] should be burned and killed”.

Prime said instances like that were why they changed strategies and techniques to protect herself and her volunteers.

“On a different note, I would like to give thanks to my family, and especially my kids, who had to be so patient with me not [being] around much and busy with work.”

Prime will be back in Parliament as a list MP as she is ninth on Labour’s list.