The political spotlight is on Northcote this month with a by-election to be won on Saturday June the 9th.
Having farewelled my friend and colleague Dr Jonathan Coleman, who was a popular and hard-working local Member of Parliament for four terms, we now welcome and support National’s new candidate 35 year-old Dan Bidois. From high school dropout and butcher’s apprentice, Dan’s life changed in his late teens as he fought and survived bone cancer. He returned to study and ultimately graduated from Harvard University with a Masters Degree in Public Policy, working around the world as an OECD economist.
Dan returned home a couple of years ago, determined to serve his country and I think he’d be an energetic and effective local MP who would fit in well with Paula, Erica, Mark and I as part of National’s North of the Harbour Bridge team. I’ve been impressed by how quickly Dan is coming to terms with the issues that matter in Northcote and I’m confident that he would be an effective advocate for those of us fortunate to live north of the harbour bridge. Expect to see us all out in force and working hard to ensure National holds Northcote and that Dan Bidois joins us in Parliament next month.
Great to see our Commonwealth Games competitors with a record haul of 46 medals and, in particular, congratulations to all those who live and train locally here on the North Shore. Anita McLaren, scoring her 100th international goal, helped win New Zealand’s first ever gold for women’s hockey. North Harbour's Cory Bennett and George Muir were part of our silver medal winning men's hockey team, and silver was also won by local cyclists Bryony Botha and Natasha Hansen.
Devonport’s sporting luminary and 2016 Supreme AIMES award winner Eliza McCartney earned a silver medal for pole vaulting. Westlake Boys alumni Tom Abercrombie, Jarrod Kenny, Rob Loe, together with ex-Rosmini student Derone Raukawa, were part of the bronze winning Tall Blacks and former Westlake Girls student Deena Franklin also won a bronze in the women's basketball team.
Participating in their first Games were 15 year-old rhythmic gymnast and Westlake girl, Stella Ebert, swimmer Carina Doyle and promising pole vaulters Olivia McTaggart and Nick Southgate.
The Government invests $62 million annually in high performance sport and many of these athletes use the resources of the High Performance Sport Centre in Mairangi Bay. Along with the North Harbour Club and AIMES awards, the North Shore supports its young talent to achieve internationally and the success at the Commonwealth Games is another example of that wrap around North Shore spirit that gets results.
Please save the date, Friday May 25th, to join me for breakfast with Amy Adams at the Takapuna Boat Club. I’m hosting National’s Finance spokesperson the week after the coalition government’s first budget so it’s a good opportunity for you to ask questions. Amy will skip the spin and analyse the government spend and how it will affect the way we do business here on the Shore. For more details and to book please contact Fay Freeman on 021 276 4608.
