Labour MP hopeful Nathaniel Blomfield kickstarts campaign

Nathaniel Blomfield, Labour candidate for the Coromandel. PHOTO/Supplied.

Kia ora koutou katoa, Ko Nathaniel Blomfield taku ingoa.

I'm glad to have this opportunity to introduce myself as your Labour candidate in the 2020 general election.

My views and life values are influenced by a lifetime living and working in rural New Zealand. I grew up in Te Puru on the Thames coast and got my first job as an orderly at Thames Hospital. I've worked 20-plus years as a chef around New Zealand and ran my own restaurant in Tairua while raising four great kids with my wife Mel.

More recently I've worked as a construction worker for a property development company, in charge of landscape management, while continuing part-time as a deckie and cook for a charter fishing company.

I believe that New Zealand's House of Representatives should be just that – a place that represents New Zealand's diverse cultures, communities, regions and social demographics. My work-life experience means I can genuinely represent the varied communities of the Coromandel and its working people, those who care for the environment, small business owners, people involved in fishing, agriculture and horticulture, and people without secure jobs.

For me, one of the core Labour values is kaitiakitanga. We are just the guardians of this whenua, and we owe it to our children to do everything in our power to protect it.

In that vein, I've been investigating the value of regenerative farming techniques, including examples of this type of farming practice right here in our electorate. And I've also been following developments in off-shore fishing and our local shellfish aquaculture industries.

I am committed to working hard to bring a rural and provincial perspective to:

· action on climate change

· kaitiakitanga - responsible stewardship of our natural resources

· a living wage

· access to high-quality healthcare

· free education that's actually free

· principled, strong and independent foreign policy

· decent affordable housing.

I want to be part of another Labour-led government with kindness at its heart as we get our economy moving again, and keep up protections against the Covid-19 pandemic.

My team and I are keen to meet you. Please invite us to your group to hear more about Labour and why I am standing for parliament by contacting labourincoromandel@gmail.com