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The Greens have selected Dave Kennedy as their parliamentary election candidate for Invercargill.
Mr Kennedy said he would be pushing for party votes rather than focusing on unseating the incumbent electorate MP, National’s Penny Simmonds.
He stood previously in Southland but has returned to Invercargill since it is where he is based and has many connections.
‘‘I just think it’s an obvious electorate to put my hand up and stand for.
‘‘I’m really pushing for the party vote; it’s going to be our main focus.’’ said Mr Kennedy.
He acknowledged that Southland tended to be more conservative, but said he did ‘‘quite well’’ last election cycle.
‘‘I’ve got interests in housing, I’m part of the Southland Community Housing Group, I’m also the vice-chair of Farmers Markets New Zealand.’’
The cost of food was important to him, and directly addressing ‘‘the supermarket duopoly’’.
‘‘We’ve got some of the most expensive food and yet we’re supposed to be the land of milk and honey. Not many people can even afford butter or basic ingredients.’’
He is also advocating for improved water quality across Southland.
‘‘The nitrogen in our rivers and aquifers are still making us sick ... New Zealanders in the summer holidays would swim in their favourite beaches, rivers and lakes. Now that’s no longer as safe as it used to be.’’
He highlighted a Green Party policy called ‘‘Drink, Swim, Fish’’ which aimed to provide ‘‘availability of clean drinking water, our beaches and rivers safe to swim in, and plenty of fish in our oceans’’.
Mr Kennedy has a background teaching in schools across the region.
He said he loved music and had a large music collection which he started while in school.
He had also been working with the Murihiku Kai Collective, an organisation that had a ‘‘road map to regional food security’’.
‘‘We’re working with community groups, we’ve got community gardens and even Queens Park grow vegetables and make them available to people,’’ he said.