East Coast

Labour backbencher Janet Mackey has cemented her hold on the huge East Coast electorate by solid community involvement, some lucky economic breaks and her party's popularity.

Successive boundary alterations have not always left her so comfortable over the past nine years.

The National-leaning Whakatane district has been moved in from the Bay of Plenty this election, which will hurt Mackey's healthy 1999 majority of 3845.

East Coast depends heavily on farming, horticulture and forestry. With an upturn in those sectors, the region's long slough of depression may be lifting.

The recent announcement that a $100 million wood processing plant will be built in Gisborne, creating hundreds of jobs over the next few years, must be a boost for Labour.

As large forests mature, what to do with the wall of wood - presently exported as logs - is a big local issue.

National candidate Leanne Jensen-Daines is trying hard to make her mark and it will be interesting to see how the Green Party's Catherine Delahunty polls.

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