Election 2023: Rural representation gets a boost in Parliament

Some of the new MPs entering Parliament will be going in, gumboots and all. Photo / Bevan Conley

While the 54th Parliament will not be finalised until next month at the earliest, an array of new gumboots will be lined up at the Beehive door.

Here, we meet New Zealand’s new MP’s with backgrounds in the primary sector.

NATIONAL

Grant McCallum

Grant McCallum is a dairy and beef farmer in Maungatoroto.

He has a Bachelor of Commerce in Agriculture from Lincoln University and served as vice-president of the Northern branch of Federated Farmers.

McCallum won the Northland electorate from Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime.

Suze Redmayne

Suze Redmayne owns and operates lamb brand Coastal Lamb with her husband Richard from their farm in Turakina.

For two decades, she worked in the electorate office of the last two MPs to serve in the area.

Redmayne won the Rangitīkei electorate, succeeding her mentor Ian McKelvie.

Catherine Wedd

Catherine Wedd was a primary sector executive and TVNZ reporter.

She expressed a keen interest in ensuring Tukituki’s big agricultural employers can prosper in the future.

Wedd won the Tuituki electorate, beating Labour’s Anna Lorck.

Miles Anderson

Southburn-based farmer Miles Anderson has been a farmer of more than 20 years.

He was the former Meat and Wool chair for Federated Farmers.

Anderson said as a farmer, he promises to be a strong advocate for the primary sector in Waitaki, where he now sits as the electorate MP.

Dana Kirkpatrick

Dana Kirkpatrick comes from a farming background and is a Gisborne-based executive and communications professional.

Kirkpatrick said she understood the contributions farmers made to the region and to the New Zealand economy.

As East Coast MP, she said she will always be a strong advocate for farmers and orchardists and will advocate to reduce their regulatory burden.

Mike Butterick

Mike Butterick is a Masterton-based sheep and beef farmer who began his farming career shepherding in Canterbury before moving to Wairarapa more than 30 years ago.

He is also the Meat and Wool Chair of Wairarapa Federated Farmers and is part of the Wairarapa Primary Skills Leaders group.

Butterick was the original spokesperson for the provincial lobby group ‘Fifty Shades of Green’, advocating for changes in climate policies.

He edged out Labour’s Kieran McAnulty in Wairarapa.

ACT

Andrew Hoggard

Andrew Hoggard is a Manawatū dairy farmer and formal grand finalist in the 2003 Young Farmer of the Year contest.

He is the immediate past national president of Federated Farmers and a board member of the International Dairy Federation.

Cameron Luxton

Cameron Luxton is a self-employed builder in Pāpāmoa.

During an earlier career change, he tried his hand at dairy farming and won the 2014 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.

GREENS

Scott Willis

Scott Willis grew up on a farm in Otago and moved to rural France after graduation, where he worked on orchards, farms and eco enterprises.

Willis was also an intern on rural policy at the European Parliament.