Selwyn_Times: October 18, 2023

Selwyn Times Wednesday October 18 2023
6
NEWS
Māori ward
unlikely; new
rep on board
• By Daniel Alvey
THE DISTRICT is unlikely to
have a Māori ward at the next local
government elections.
At the representation review
meeting on Tuesday last week, it was
decided to recommend the council
did not establish a Māori ward.
Māori wards provide a way for
Māori to contribute to decisionmaking
and have representation at
council.
To establish the ward the number
of elected members would need to
be increased from 10 to 12, excluding
the mayor.
At the last representation review
three years ago, the number of
elected members dropped from 11
to 10. Mayor Sam Broughton said
this was to ensure expediency in
the council process and decisionmaking.
From discussions with local
iwi and hapu at this time, iwi as a
whole did not support the creation
of a Māori ward.
To honour its partnership
commitments under the Treaty
of Waitangi, the council last
week welcomed mana whenua
representative Megan McKay, who
will have speaking and voting
rights in all council committees
and speaking rights in council
meetings.
• By Daniel Alvey
RE-ELECTED Selwyn MP
Nicola Grigg is “really stoked”
with the election results, which
exceeded her expectations.
“The whole team, especially
my volunteers out in Selwyn,
worked so hard and put so many
hours into it, the win was for
them as much as anything,”
Grigg said.
Grigg had an election night
count of 26,549 votes – a winning
margin of 17,050 over the
next best candidate, Labour’s
Luke Jones, who had 9499 votes.
Act candidate Ben Harvey
received 2207 votes.
“I had set a goal in my own
head to double my 2020 margin
from 5000 to 10,000, so I
couldn’t believe it when these
numbers started to come in,”
she said.
Grigg was part of a huge
swing to National, which retook
the party vote in Selwyn after it
went the way of Labour in 2020.
National received 19,835 party
votes, compared to 7240 for
Labour.
“Turning Selwyn back blue
was my number one priority in
2020.
“I had the dubious title of
being the first ever MP to turn
Selwyn red (in the party vote),
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Landslide win for Grigg
SUCCESS: Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg has retained her seat
by 17,050 votes. ​
so to turn it back blue with such
a margin the whole team was
really stoked.”
Grigg said the portfolios she
will receive will now be up
to incoming Prime Minister
Christopher Luxon. She wants
to retain her portfolios – animal
welfare, biosecurity, food safety,
rural communities, and women.
“He knows very well how
much I love the agriculture sector
and that’s where my heart
and soul lies.
“I’ve always had a stretch goal
of being New Zealand’s first
female minister for primary
industries but Todd McClay is
the lead on the portfolio and I’m
sure it will go to him.”
At No 19 on National’s list,
Grigg may also score a spot
around the Cabinet table with
there usually being about 22-24
seats available. She said it will
depend on coalition negotiations
between Act and potentially
New Zealand First.
Grigg said her focus will be on
infrastructure, which includes
investigations into building four
lane roads to Ashburton and
prioritising school rebuilds for
the likes of Ellesmere College.
Jones said he was pleased with
the result, despite the margin.
“We really understood it was
going to be an uphill battle.”
Jones said he had aimed to get
10,000 votes, which he is 501
short of, a margin he is hoping
to close as special votes are
counted.
SELWYN RESULTS
Nicola Grigg (National):
26,549
Luke Jones (Labour):
9499
Ben Harvey (Act): 2207
Logan Courtney (New
Zealand Loyal): 791
Abe Coulter (New
Conservative): 409
National: 19,835
Labour: 7240
Act: 4915
Greens: 3383
New Zealand First:
2205
TOP: 1037
New Zealand Loyal: 326
NewZeal: 181
Te Pāti Māori: 157
HORNBY