East Coast electorate sees record 11 candidates in general election

Fallyn Flavell

East Coast voters will have plenty of choice when general election voting opens on October 2 because a record 11 candidates will appear on the ballot paper.

Nominations closed last week and there are five candidates in addition to those who were previously named and appeared at campaign meetings.

Those candidates are Fallyn Flavell, standing for Te Pāti Māori, Craig Sinclair, standing for New Zealand First, and three independents — Monaco Caracas, Gordon Dickson and Don Richards.

They join Tamati Coffey (Labour), Michael Howe (ACT), Dana Kirkpatrick (National), Leighton Packer (Vision New Zealand), Chris Robinson (Democracy NZ) and Jordan Walker (Greens).

Former long-serving Gisborne Herald chief reporter John Jones says the 11 candidates is the largest number of parliamentary candidates to stand for the Gisborne/Mahia/East Coast electorate since World War 2, and probably an all-time record number.

New Zealand First candidate for East Coast Craig Sinclair is a dairy farmer. He says he wants to see New Zealand restored to economic prosperity and stands for open democracy and an equal vote for all New Zealanders.

Ms Flavell is Te Pāti Māori vice-president wāhine. She graduated from the University of Otago with science and commerce undergraduate degrees, and completed a Master of Indigenous Studies in 2012.

She says her varying leadership roles had sculpted her into a staunch, fervent advocate of whānau, tiriti centric Kaupapa, including Te Pāti Māori since it’s inception in 2004.

Ms Flavell is currently part of the leadership team at Te Arawa Whānau Ora inspiring Whānau to achieve aspirational excellence.

Ikaroa-Rawhiti heavyweights Meka Whaitiri (Te Pāti Māori) and Cushla Tangaere-Manuel (Labour) also have a new candidate in Ata Tuhakaraina of Vision New Zealand.

Mr Tuhakaraina, 38, (Ngāti Hauā) lives in Wellington and has worked in the finance industry for 12 years.

He is a champion for the Man Up programme run by Destiny Church and would love to see it rolled out on a wider scale if elected.

Mr Tuhakaraina was immersed in Te Ao Maori in his youth and says he has a deep passion  to shift Maori from over representation in negative statistics to fulfilling their potential.

There are 19 registered political parties contesting the general election, with 17 parties submitting a party list.

A total of 567 candidates will be contesting the 2023 General Election.

Electors can now find their closest voting place online at vote.nz, with the Electoral Commission publishing information about the 2600 places where New Zealanders can vote during the 2023 General Election.

“This election people will see voting places in and around the spaces where we all live and work, including malls and retail areas, transport hubs, marae, mosques, universities, schools, and community halls,’ said Electoral Commission deputy chief executive, operations, Anusha Gule.

“If you enrolled before writ day on September 10, you’ll be sent an EasyVote pack in the mail, which will contain your nearest voting locations, key information about the election and an EasyVote card that will make voting quicker and easier.

“For those that aren’t already enrolled, it’s not too late.

“You can still enrol online, or at any voting place when you vote.”

Overseas voting starts on September 27.

Voting ends at 7pm on election day, Saturday October 14.

The Electoral Commission said election night results would be released progressively from 7pm on www.electionresults.govt.nz