The general election for the new Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate will be held September 19, but next week, residents will have their first chance to ask candidates any questions they may have.

The ‘Meet the Candidates’ meeting will be held at the Warkworth Town Hall on July 9, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is being hosted by One Warkworth and will be chaired by One Warkworth manager Murray Chapman.

The confirmed candidates attending are:

Beth Houlbrooke (ACT) who has served three terms on Auckland Council's Rodney Local Board, including one term as Chair and one as Deputy. Beth is running for ACT as a long-time party member and activist who lives and breathes the party's values of personal freedom. 

Marja Lubeck (Labour) has been a passionate advocate for social justice. Marja believes in fairness and equal opportunities, giving kids the best possible start in life so they can have access to good jobs, decent working conditions and fair wages. To better serve her members, she studied part-time while working and graduated in 2014 with a law degree.

Chris Penk (National) First elected to Parliament in 2017, as successor to Sir John Key in that seat, Chris is enjoying being part of National’s strong caucus that’s holding the government to account. His key focus is providing great representation for Kaipara Ki Mahurangi, which includes advocating for constituents and lobbying ministers on various local issues.

Callan Neylon (Social Credit) is the Social Credit Party's Youth Wing Leader. He has a particular interest in ecology and is strongly opposed to the Waste Management Ltd proposal to build a potentially toxic landfill in the Dome Valley. Mr Neylon says Social Credit’s funding policies would enable much greater investment in health care and particularly mental health support; an issue he sees as affecting large numbers of young people around his age.

The NZ First candidate is yet to be announced. So far, there are no candidates for the Green Party, One Party or the Opportunities Party.