MP hails Wairoa as ‘heart of Napier electorate’

Katie Nimon

Napier National MP Katie Nimon paid special tribute to Wairoa during her maiden speech in Parliament, calling the community “the heart of the Napier electorate” with “endless potential”.

The Napier electorate includes Wairoa, Lake Waikaremoana and the Mahia Peninsula with the north-eastern boundary extending almost to the outskirts of Gisborne and inland as far as Matawai.

Ms Nimon said the electorate had the industries — energy, space, tourism, film, agriculture and horticulture, and construction.

“We just need to get out of their way.

“I want this for the whole region, but I want to make a special mention of Wairoa — the heart of the Napier electorate.

“Wairoa has endless potential; its people are strong and proud.

“What I want for Wairoa is for rangatahi to not have to leave to find opportunities.

“Wairoa will achieve this for Wairoa, but we can meet them halfway with health, infrastructure, and services that make life there not just possible, but enviable.”

Ms Nimon, who was formerly the general manager of the family bus company Nimon and Sons, said she wanted to support local businesses better.

“I don’t claim to have all the answers, but you can’t spend your way out of every problem, nor can you regulate your way out of it.

“All you get is debt and dependency.”

She also spoke about herself and her family’s history in Hawke’s Bay, including that her father’s great-grandfather was a Napier MP, her intentions to better support local businesses, and her vision for her electorate.

Nimon and Sons,  has a fleet of  130 vehicles, operating school bus services as well as charter and luxury tours in Hawke’s Bay, Taupo and Gisborne.

The company was sold in 2021 after being owned by the Nimon family for 116 years.

The region’s two other newly-elected MPs, National’s East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick and Labour’s Ikaroa -Rawhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, will give their maiden speeches in the new year.