Minister of Finance Grant Robertson with life member of Whanganui Labour Party, Rhona Wright and Whanganui MP Steph Lewis, holding the cake for Rhona’s 90th birthday.
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson with life member of Whanganui Labour Party, Rhona Wright and Whanganui MP Steph Lewis, holding the cake for Rhona’s 90th birthday.
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson attended the launch of the Labour Party’s Whanganui electorate campaign in Whanganui on Friday, June 30, with incumbent MP Steph Lewis, who is standing again.
A highlight of the evening was the celebration of the 90th birthday of Rhona Wright who, together with her late husband Murray, were life members of the Whanganui Labour Party. They campaigned with Russell Marshall and Jill Pettis. It was Rhona who shoulder-tapped Steph Lewis to stand for the Whanganui seat.
Robertson has made many visits to Whanganui. “I was fortunate to be the ‘buddy MP’ for Whanganui when Labour was in Opposition and didn’t have an MP in Whanganui before Steph was elected,” said Robertson.
“I was the person who looked after Whanganui, so I made lots of visits over the years, and love coming here. I’ve known Hamish McDouall [former mayor of Whanganui] since my university days.
“My grandparents and my father lived here for a little while, I had that connection - my grandfather worked for the Customs Department. I always loved visiting here.”
When asked if there are any differences between national and regional election issues, he said the national issues are similar: “You always get people talking about housing, health, and education, those issues go everywhere.
Campaign manager for the Labour Party's Whanganui branch, Jude Lydia, talking to a packed meeting at Stellar in the city.
“You have particular local issues in Whanganui, transport issues, things within health - the issues Whanganui faces are a bit different from those in Auckland, making sure there is access to services. There’s always a local angle.
“With transport, it’s making sure the city is well connected with all the networks and the roads are upgraded. We’ve seen with the East Coast, it’s no good just waiting for something to happen.
“Our roads and railways need to be looked after. The connection in and out of Whanganui - both State Highways 3 and 4, we need to be sure they’re resilient.
“We’ve invested in the port, through the Provincial Growth Fund. Steph has done a great job of advocating around that and supporting some of the businesses that are down there.
“We want to make sure that if the port’s going to operate, one of the things we’ve learned is we need functioning ports, in different parts of New Zealand, to make sure we are resilient.”
Lewis kicked off her campaign, working her way through the electorate, with meetings in Stratford and Hāwera, before coming to Whanganui that night.
“Steph has been campaigning for three years, she’s always at the markets, I’m aware of her work. People don’t always connect with elections until quite close,” said Robertson.
Steph Lewis was born in Whanganui and grew up between Whanganui and Waverley. She moved to Wellington for university and studied law, political science and anthropology.
“I joined the Labour Party as a student volunteer. It was my now husband who encouraged me to join up. It was at university that I met Grant Robertson and started campaigning for him.
“I first stood as a candidate in 2017 in the Whanganui electorate, just missed out, but took the seat in 2020. Now I’ve just about completed my first term as an MP,” she said.
“Historically, Whanganui has been a Labour seat, but over the years there have been boundary changes, we’ve crept further into Taranaki, which has changed the nature of the seat.
“This was a really special day for us as we launched our campaign in Whanganui. I’m here with new faces, but with my team who have worked really hard to ensure that we re-elect a Labour Government because there’s so much at stake this year.
“We’re facing a coalition which wants to cut the winter energy payment, reinstate the part-payment on prescription fees we’ve removed, and undo a lot of the work we’ve spent the last six years doing.
“I know it has made a massive difference in the lives of people here. It’s a real privilege to just reflect on all that we’ve achieved, as people have worked so hard for it,” she said.
