A veteran politician is throwing his hat in the West Coast-Tasman ring for the tenth time this election with hopes to scoop his fifth-straight win.
Damien O’Connor, who reclaimed the seat in 2020, 6208 votes ahead of second place Maureen Pugh of the National Party, says he has always had a passion for representing the electorate and has been privileged to be part of a government that had done “great things” in recent “challenging” times.
The Labour MP promises to cultivate further improvements to Tasman if re-elected.
“I don’t have Plan B, it’s always Plan A, and that’s to win,” he says. “What we have seen previously in and around Tasman is weather events that can impact our lives dramatically and we have to build more resilience into our systems.
“The government has set aside $6 billion for resilience planning and infrastructure investment and some of that will need to come into our region to ensure that we can withstand the ever-increasing pressures from those weather events.
West Coast-Tasman MP Damien, who also holds four ministerial portfolios; agriculture, biosecurity, land information and trade and export growth, and is the associate transport minister, says he would also continue supporting the local primary and healthcare sectors.
“The trade agreements negotiated between the UK and the EU offer huge opportunities, not just for our horticulture and primary sectors but also for a growing number of service businesses that flourish in the region,” he says.
“Growing the value from everything that we produce into high returning markets and continuing to open the doors through trade, better trade access, and assist exporters through government agencies is another core part of my focus.
“As a government we’ve committed to rebuild Nelson Hospital, my job is to ensure those services reach out into the rural areas and communities and to ensure confidence in our communities that everyone can get access to healthcare when they need it.”
Damien, who lives at Mahana with his partner and daughter, says his achievements for Tasman since 2020 included securing funds to better repair the Tākaka Hill road after it was damaged in Cyclone Gita.
“Improving the traffic flow through Motueka and supporting communities like Tapawera to be connected into government agencies have been some of the highlights,” he says.
“Along with the huge investment into Golden Bay and Tākaka schools to bring our education facilities up to the standards we deserve.”
Damien was first elected to Parliament in 1993 after winning the West Coast seat and won the inaugural West Coast-Tasman seat in 1996.
He remained its MP until 2008 when he lost the seat to National’s Chris Auchinvole but was re-elected three years later and reclaimed the seat in the past four elections.
Damien will look to reclaim the seat in October’s general election for the fifth time, making 15 consecutive years representing the region.
