"I'd love to see Act pull that 5 per cent, to make us a permanent feature in the political landscape."
After graduating from Massey University, Wilson worked as a development technician at the Alliance Freezing Works in Invercargill, which he said was the start of a career in the meat freezing and export business.
"I was involved in setting up the first export halal slaughter plant in New Zealand actually, at the Ocean Beach meatworks in Southland.
"That was a complex meshing together of different competing interests, and once the system got routine for us, everybody wanted to do it."
Wilson said his involvement in politics began in July 1972 when he attended a Labour Party meeting in Invercargill.
"I ended up being John Munroe's campaign manager and we managed to win the election.
"I spent the next 20 years trying to win another one, and that's what's kept me interested, really."
Wilson said he began campaigning for Act in Dunedin in 1994, and after moving to Wellington he continued to work within the party alongside figures such as Muriel Newman, Gerry Eckhoff and John Boscawen.
He stood as the Act candidate in Mana in 1996, which he said was "a lot of fun, even if I didn't do so well".
"There's been some ups and downs along the way, but the party's philosophy has stayed the same throughout.
"I just feel that if you don't get involved you can't complain."
There were too many rules and regulations in New Zealand currently, Wilson said, meaning it took too long to "get anything done".
"On top of that, tax is a burden, and it's certainly not 'love'.
"I think the optimum middle tax rate is somewhere between the 16 and 20 per cent area, in terms of getting the best revenue for the least resistance or non-acceptance from the working public.
"To lower the hammer on rich people, it's just saying that if you work harder, you get taxed harder."
Sustainable agriculture in a rural area such as Rangitīkei seemed to be common sense, something that was a "very Act value", Wilson said.
"That doesn't mean to say that what the Greens want to do to stimulate sustainable agriculture is necessarily a good thing.
"I actually fear that if we carried on with all the most extreme proposals that they [Greens] are suggesting we'll face nothing but famine, and If we squander the progress that human flourishing has created then we risk throwing it all away.
"Genetic modification for example, that's a classic case of where science and reason have to be brought into play.
"My personal view is that we're missing out because we're not embracing the genetically modified revolution.
"Innovation not regulation, that's what I would encourage."
It was hard to be too critical of the Government's Covid-19 response, Wilson said, simply because "no one has had to deal with this before".
"We've got $140 billion to repay though, and we've got to do something a bit unusual to try and stop it taking three lifetimes to pay it back.
"More and more quantitative easing, that can get you through a tight spot, but this is more than a tight spot.
"We need to use our intellect, our innovative skills, and our reason, and we throw that away at our peril."
