ELECTION COVERAGE - Julie Ann Genter - Rongotai
Julie-Anne Genter regularly braves the cold for a swim in the South Coast’s marine reserve, Taputeranga. “It’s really magic,” she says. So it was an easy choice to film a campaign video there—until a whale visited Island Bay the day of their filming, disrupting their plans. Genter wasn’t disappointed. What a better sign, she thought, for a Green campaign than a whale visiting. She posted on Twitter: “This is basically an endorsement, right?”
A Green Party MP since 2011, this is the first time Genter has put her name forward for the Rongotai electorate where she lives with her family. After current Rongotai MP Paul Eagle’s failed mayoralty run led him to bow out of the contest, Genter said “it made sense” for her to stand. “The fact that the incumbent Labour MP is not standing, it meant there was a real opportunity for the Greens, especially I think because [Rongotai is] a very progressive electorate.”
The Rongotai seat has been held by Labour since 1996. But in the 2020 election, the Green Party received 23.58% of the party vote in the electorate, shadowing Labour's 52% dominance. “National has no show in the electorate, the Greens have already been coming in second without trying,” Genter says.
Is this a serious two-ticks Green campaign? “Definitely,” said Genter. “We are throwing everything at winning the seat.”
Website: salient.org.nz
Magazine Instagram: @salientgram
Podcast Instagram: @salient_podcasts
This podcast is a Salient Podcasts Production. Produced by Alex Marinkovich-Josey
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free