Rebuilding the local economy and increasing housing supply and resilience in the Tasman area would be the top priorities for National’s West Coast-Tasman candidate if elected its MP.
Maureen Pugh, who is currently a List MP for the National Party, will recontest the seat in the 2023 General Election after achieving second place three years ago with 6208 votes short of winner, Damien O’Connor.
She says her biggest achievements for Tasman since the last election included adding the Hope Bypass to National's Transport for the Future plan, and her commitment to replace the Motueka Bridge due to the volume of trucks and camper vans that use it.
Maureen says Tasman isn’t immune to national issues like cost-of-living and increased housing costs.
“Tourism and horticulture suffered during the Covid lockdowns, closed borders, and MIQ restrictions that stopped workers and tourists from entering the country. This has been slowly recovering but the economic impacts are still being felt,” she says.
“Building back our economy is a top priority and that means ensuring there is a pipeline of expertise, secure and efficient transport links, and less red tape.
“More housing supply is critical to meeting the demand here in Tasman. National’s housing plan will reduce the costs of consenting, we will assist councils with policy changes to direct funding for infrastructure like roads and pipework, and we will partner with community housing providers to build more social housing.”
Maureen, who has lived at Kumara for 45 years, says in her three years as National’s spokesperson for the Community and Voluntary Sector, she has noticed volunteer burnout is real and the stress of the past few years had a taken a toll, and therefore better resilience is needed.
“Division between people is the worst I have seen in my lifetime, so we need to pull ourselves back together as communities and as a country,” she says.
“Empowering communities to do what works for them rather than rolling out blanket programmes is our preference, while making sure that taxpayers’ money is delivering measurable results.
“National will bring our Social Investment approach back to life. A new Social Investment Fund will invest in programmes that promise to change the lives of New Zealanders with the greatest needs.”
Maureen, who has been a National Party member for 10 years and first stood for West-Coast Tasman in 2014, says it was also time to celebrate the local rural sector and build on their value.
“Over the past three years I have focussed on getting my colleagues into the electorate to see first-hand what the challenges and opportunities are,” she says.
“This has enabled me to ensure that when it comes to developing policy this rural area is front of mind.
“It is from being in government that I will be able to work with my colleagues on issues relevant to our rural communities. I would like a chance to do that.”
