Auckland Central should be the front door to New Zealand: confident in itself, safer in its streets, and open for business again.
When I arrived in New Zealand in 1998, I was in my early twenties, newly married to a Kiwi, and ready to make a start in a country that felt unfamiliar, but full of possibility.
I did not come with much, but I came ready to work hard to build a life and career in a new and exciting place. New Zealand took a chance on me, and I took a chance on New Zealand. Looking back, I think we both won.
Auckland Central is where I built my life from the ground up. It is where I got my first job as a receptionist and part-time accounts clerk on Shortland Street, it supported me to build my career, and I discovered the extraordinary energy of a place that has always been creative, ambitious, restless and resilient. That is why I love it.
I have spent my career building things, fixing things, leading organisations and backing people who take risks. I was CEO of one of the first start-up companies to go through the ICEHOUSE, then CEO of NZTech, helping launch TechWeek and create Women in Tech NZ and ShadowTech, so more young women could see a future for themselves in technology. I served on the University of Auckland Council of Governors, worked across data and tech, health-science, energy, infrastructure, venture capital and governance, a founding trustee of the Well Foundation and was President of the Cancer Society Auckland and Northland for six years.
Those roles taught me that delivery is all about who needs to be in the room, what decision has to be made, and how to keep negotiating and pushing when the first answer is no or “it’s not possible.”
That is why I am standing.
Auckland Central has been a constant for over half my lifetime, and I know it can be so much more than it is today. It has the bones of one of the great inner-city communities anywhere in the world, with the harbour, heritage streets, creative economy, universities, small businesses, restaurants, galleries and locals who love it as much as I do.
But good bones are not enough, an ambitious city also needs confidence.
Across the electorate, people tell me they want the basics working better. National is making strong progress by restoring consequences to criminals, backing victims by making stalking a crime, putting more Police back on the beat and opening a new central city station, cracking down on serious youth offending, and taking retail crime seriously. The message is clear from government, communities should not have to lower their standards to accommodate lawlessness.
There is still more to do. I am standing not only because of what needs fixing, I am standing because of what Auckland Central can become when we continue to fix the basics. When confidence is high, people invest, hire, renovate, take risks again, and a city starts to thrive.
That is the Auckland Central I want to help build up for the future. A place where businesses are backed, students see opportunity here, growth is sensible, public spaces are cared for, and people who work hard, save carefully, invest, create, employ and give back are encouraged and rewarded.
This electorate does not need another three years of performance politics. It needs someone who can work with central Government, Council, local boards, businesses and communities to get things moving. Auckland Central has had plenty of noise, now it needs action. I will be out across the electorate door knocking, visiting businesses, apartment buildings, hosting community meetings and in my office at 188 Ponsonby Road, listening first, working hard, and earning your support.
Please drop by to 188 Ponsonby Road and say hello, I would genuinely love to meet you.
candace.kinser@national.org.nz
www.national.org.nz/team/candacekinser
CANDACE KINSER
National Party Candidate for Auckland Central
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