When Louise Upston won the Taupō seat from Labour incumbent Mark Burton in 2008, she had no plan for how long she’d stay around.
Eighteen years later, she enters the election having been the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Disability Issues, Social Development and Employment, Tourism and Hospitality, Child Poverty Reduction and the Leader of the House in the outgoing Parliament.
She told Local Democracy Reporting that these portfolios often connected with each other.
“With my responsibilities in tourism and hospitality, [that] benefits our businesses, and it’s so obvious to see.”
Originally from the North Shore, Upston said that, although her ministerial roles took up much of her time, they helped her to serve the Taupō electorate more.
“I think I’m a better minister because I’m a local MP.”
She said she kept in touch with her electorate, which stretches from Cambridge to Tongariro National Park, through a steady regimen of public meetings, coffee catch-ups and ministerial visits.
Keeping Toi Ohomai open
As the minister in charge of employment, Upston is passionate about ensuring jobseekers have access to vocational training.
“...supporting people off welfare into work ... is a real driver of mine.”
So when she heard the Toi Ohomai Taupō campus was about to close, something had to be done.
“I called an urgent meeting to make sure people knew what was at risk, and we managed to keep it open.”
The ongoing challenge for Toi Ohomai Taupō was to offer courses specific to the needs of the region, she said.
“We need to ensure young people are doing training, getting an education for the skills and areas our employers need, and that’s different from other parts of the country.”
Supporting tourism to foster jobs
Upston named farming, tourism and forestry as the top sectors in the electorate.
During her tenure, $675,000 of funding had been allocated for upgrades to Te Waihou/Blue Spring and $794,000 into developing food trails in locations including Taupō.
“We’ve seen a return to the 2019 numbers of international visitors, and I’ve had a really big focus on making sure those visitors are spreading throughout New Zealand.”
The right investments in the right places made places like Taupō a “more favoured destination for visitors”.
She said Government support of companies such as Laminex in Taupō, along with international deals such as the free trade agreement with India, were the sort of game-changers New Zealand manufacturers needed to build a job-producing economy.
Reducing the cost of energy
Getting more renewable energy into play through resource management consenting changes and the fast track would help curtail rising energy costs.
She said supercritical geothermal generation, private projects such as Te Rāhui Solar Farm, regulation of the electricity sector, and assisting residents to generate their own electricity would all help contribute as well.
However, she said good things took time.
“It’s also important to be upfront about the fact that, when we talk about power prices, nothing will drop prices immediately.
“It’s multiple actions we are taking to help drive the pressure on power prices and to improve competition.”
In terms of future aspirations, Upston said: “If I believed I can continue to have an impact, then I would keep giving it a go, which is why I’m back as the candidate this election.”
National’s six-time Taupō MP is up against:
- Chris Flatt, Labour
- Celine Kearney, Greens
- Chris Plummer, Opportunity Party
- Itania Nikolao, Independent
- Gordon Wilson, NZ Loyal
The final day for voting is November 7
