Scott Summerfield selected as Green Party candidate for the Coromandel

Scott Summerfield selected as the Green Party candidate for the Coromandel.

The Coromandel branch of the Green Party has today unanimously selected Scott Summerfield as their candidate for the 2017 general election.

"The Green Party has stood dedicated and principled candidates in the Coromandel for many years with Jeanette Fitzsimons and Catherine Delahunty and I aim to continue their enthusiastic commitment to social justice and environmental issues in my campaign here this year," Summerfield said.

Provincial electorates were not well-served under the current government and the major problems facing the country are affecting people just as much in areas like the Coromandel, he said.

"We hear about the housing crisis in Auckland and other cities and see the government's stilted response there, but actually don't talk enough about how high house prices and not enough supply in the Coromandel electorate are putting home ownership out of reach for many locals," he said.

"Decent, affordable rentals are incredibly difficult to find in the region which puts families at risk and makes it hard for employers to attract workers."

Summerfield is also concerned about the risks of climate change for the Coromandel electorate.

"Many people see climate change as too big and too abstract to connect with as the greatest threat facing us. But we are already starting to feel the impacts here, whether that be coastal erosion on the east coast of the Coromandel from Whangapoua to Waihi Beach, or the threat of sea level rise on the Hauraki plains.

"The Coromandel electorate and the rest of New Zealand need to send a strong message this election that New Zealand needs a government who will take climate change seriously and will work to limit the extent of climate change as well as prepare local authorities and communities to adapt to its effects."