Your vote counts, so don't forget to have you say Local elections 2025 | Vote NZ

What a great day at the races. Shout out to my horse and jockey for getting me across the line first.

It has always been my view that Council should stick with core services. I am committed to keeping money is resident’s pockets. Overall, I agree on restraining council expenditure to around CPI, but not an arbitrary cap. Only a fool would rush into putting an arbitrary cap on all of Council as this will result in non-compliance and heavy fines in some areas as set by Central Government.

Watch my moment in the hot seat 

Rate rises have become a serious issue within Local Government as we’ve seen too many people prioritising nice-to-haves on top of multiple mandates from Central Government that increase costs. All councils in New Zealand are struggling but we can do better.

Oh I could rabbit on for pages as some do. With regard to the future of our water services, the resolution put in place by nine elected members (me included) was sensible, practical and adaptable.

Do you ever feel like the only other person in the world you can trust is your dog?

I’m one of you, I've got deep roots here and have been proud to call the Waitaki home for the past 27 years, coming back to the district after mustering in the late 1960s to raise my family. Drawn by the land, people and potential, the Waitaki has allowed people to live great lives and have opportunity to prosper.

I’m not a politician but just another concerned rate payer.