Tauranga could have yet another local MP after September's election, in the form of ACT's Stuart Pedersen.

The Mount Maunganui resident scored the highest placing on ACT's party list for a non-Auckland candidate, sitting at sixth.

That means if leader David Seymour wins Epsom, then all Stuart needs is for the party to get to around 4.4 per cent of the vote to take up a seat of his own in parliament.

Speaking to SunLive in his first interview as the 2017 Tauranga candidate, Stuart says he was pleasantly surprised to find he was so highly ranked. Previously, he stood for the party in 2014, but failed to make it into parliament.

'I was pretty green back then. The objective was just to get party votes.”

ACT received 134 party votes in Tauranga at the last election – 20 less than Stuart himself secured. But he's optimistic.

'As long as David gets Epsom, every party vote nationwide counts. We're aiming for five MPs, which only requires 3.6 per cent of the vote.”

The obvious question then is: why bother standing as an electorate candidate, if you're not fussed about winning the seat?

'Well, it's much easier to campaign for the party vote when you're on the list yourself,” says Stuart.

'But if you're not an electorate candidate, you don't get invited to debates, or to talk to media.”

So it's about keeping the party profile up – which means local issues are on the backburner, while the conversation turns to ACT's policies and what they can offer voters.

'ACT is the only obvious coalition partner for National,” says Stuart.

'They've already gone with New Zealand First in the past, and they'll be very keen not to make that mistake again.”

One of the key differences between ACT and New Zealand First is immigration, with the latter looking at tighter controls, while the former has a more relaxed approach.

'Immigration is good for the country and economy – clamping down on it would be irresponsible.”

Stuart probably has more of a stake in the immigration debate than most. His father was an immigrant from Denmark, who ended up owning two dairy farms out at Thornton, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. So he knows first-hand the value some immigrants can add.

His profile on the ACT party website describes Stuart as a private investor. He says he spent 13 years with Spicers Portfolio Management, before sailing around the world on a yacht with his family.

It's never polite to talk about money, but he's evidently a successful man. Capitalism has worked for him, and thus he defends it, actively promoting less government meddling in the economy.

'I studied economics at university, and spent a couple years working in the government service in Wellington.”

That was under Sir Robert Muldoon – possibly the least ACT-like prime minister New Zealand's ever had.

'I saw the worst excesses of government interference in the economy. ACT's founders were the ones who had to clean up the mess, which was mostly a thankless job.”

He's right about that – Rogernomics is still a dirty word in New Zealand's political history. But that laissez-faire approach to economics, coupled with the party's social liberalism, is at the heart of ACT.

And in the coming weeks, it will be up to Stuart to convince Tauranga voters it should be at the heart of their next government too.