The 2023 New Zealand First candidates for Tauranga and Coromandel electorates have been announced.

Small business owner Erika Harvey is standing in Tauranga again this year, and Matamata Piako District Councillor Caleb Ansell is standing in the Coromandel electorate.

The announcement was made at a public meeting held in Tauranga on Sunday.

Erika, who lives in Tauranga with husband Dan and their two children, 12-year-old Piper and new baby Ziggy, is currently the general manager of a local youth charity.

She has made Tauranga her home for almost 15 years, serving on various community boards and working groups, including Tauranga City Council and the Bay of Plenty District Health Board.

“Through [my] own parenting journey with the education system, I am particularly passionate about improving the accessibility to education for all children and have spent several years advocating in this space, most recently as chairperson of the Greerton Village School board.”

She says she is intent on giving her community a stronger voice in parliament, transferring her own experiences into inspiration to further advocate for Tauranga as a New Zealand First candidate.

Erika previously unsuccessfully ran for the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward in the Tauranga City Council elections in 2019, and for NZ First in the Tauranga electorate in the 2020 General Election.

Matamata Piako District Councillor Caleb Ansell will be standing for Coromandel in the 2023 General Election in October.

Caleb Ansell will be standing for Coromandel.

Based in Manawaru near Te Aroha with his wife Holly, Caleb has a background in customer service.

He is actively involved within the local community through his local church, and worked in the Life Centre Trust during his studies, helping with their food parcel program.

Caleb says he feels deeply passionate about equal citizenship and is eager to represent New Zealand First’s values in the upcoming election.

The public meeting where the candidates were announced on Sunday coincides with the 30th anniversary of the formation on New Zealand First which is on Tuesday, July 18.

Winston spoke to the crowd of around 700 of those early days where Tauranga was referred to as “$10 Tauranga” and “God’s waiting room”.

“Both were insults which in the decades following the 1984 snap election we set out to change. All around you today is evidence of that.”

He says this coming election is economically critical and reflected on how NZ was once a leading economic and social performer.

“Our country is broke – of ideas,” says Peters.

“This election will determine whether we turn this country around and return it to the very top of the world’s best performing economies, or we continue the decade-long slide down the OECD.”

Referencing “small highly prosperous nations” such as Iceland, Norway, Finland and Singapore, Peters outlined how changing economic and taxation policies and the education system could put New Zealand back amongst these top performers.

“But it’s never going to happen if the expenditure is on consumption and woke pet projects.”

He says New Zealand “is not ‘broke’ in the conventional sense but is the victim of broke economic ideas that don’t work, while suffering from ideological extremism”.

He also spoke on the cost of living, law and order and democracy, referencing George Orwell’s 1984 warning.

“Our democracy is under attack by the introduction of policies never part of any governing party manifesto, introduced by stealth. The result is pure “Animal Farm” – where some animals are more equal than others.”

He also spoke of “secret social engineering” indoctrination replacing education with the introduction of sexuality and gender content.

“When did the Education Minister or Prime Minister ever ask you if this was ok? New Zealand First is going to go back to education and stop this woke elitist indoctrination being sponsored by an inner cabal and their political and cultural fellow travellers.”

And he reminded the audience of NZ First’s commitment to seniors.