Act candidate back for third election

GIVE IT A GO: Greytown's Shane Atkinson is back for the third time as Wairarapa's Act Party candidate.

Wairarapa's Act Party candidate believes there's no point in moaning about the state of the country if you aren't prepared to give it a go.

For Greytown's Shane Atkinson, this will be his third "go" for his party.

Mr Atkinson, a Greytown community board member, said he was asked by the Act Party to stand as a candidate three weeks ago and he said yes straight away.

It brings the total candidates for Wairarapa to six, the same as the last election.

He said he wanted to keep things "low profile" until this point, as he is undergoing eye surgery for cataracts and looks a bit worse for wear.

He and his team will be carrying out a mail drop and signs will start appearing next week.

Mr Atkinson, who received 352 votes in the 2011 general election, said he remains a strong believer in the Act values.

He concedes 2011 was not Act's year, with a legacy of "dud" decisions, but 2014 will be better, because of Act leader Jamie Whyte and their candidate in Epsom, David Seymour.

"Jamie Whyte is much more the person we want," he said.

"Fluent, cerebral, driven by principle."

He said David Seymour was "a very good guy, thinks about policy, will do really well in Parliament".

John Banks, he said, was not a "natural fit" for Act, although a perfectly capable politician.

Asked what the point was in standing, after getting the lowest number of votes in the electorate last time, he said, "You're not entitled to grizzle if you don't get out there and give it a go."

The party vote percentage may be on Mr Atkinson's mind.

He pointed out their party vote for Wairarapa in the 2008 election was one of the highest in the country at 1660. However, that dropped to 467 in 2011.

In the latest 3 News-Reid Research poll, Act came in at 0.3 per cent.