Denis is an experienced lawyer with special expertise in legal drafting, statutory interpretation, and commercial law, and has served on the boards of several companies and government agencies including Christchurch Transport, Postbank, Recovered Materials Foundation, Meta NZ, Transwaste Canterbury, Christchurch International Airport, the Disputes Tribunal and the Legal Aid Review Panel.

Denis also has long local government experience as a Christchurch City Councillor for 15 years from 1989 to 2004, chairing the Sustainable Transport and Utilities Committee.

Currently serves on the board of the Garden City Charitable Trust.

A lifetime of participation in politics and joined NZ First in 2010 in Port Hills Electorate.
Denis has a strong egalitarian philosophy, believing in policies upholding public benefit over private interests, the personal rights of individuals without discrimination or privilege, and with NZ’s strategic resources being available for the benefit of all of its citizens.

A major reason for joining NZ First. While a member of the Christchurch City Council Denis opposed the sale of Lyttelton Port Company Limited shares and the sale of Southpower’s retail business.

New Zealand does not treat its older people as well as it should, and NZ First’s success with the Gold Card in the past show that it is the party the elderly should support in the future with its proposal for a discount on power bills.

Denis believes strongly in sustainable economic development. He currently chairs the Central Plains Water Trust, leading the way on the sustainable use of water for advanced agricultural development through its Sustainable Farming Protocol.  New Zealand must move into the 21st century by investing much more in scientific research, especially in areas where we can excel, and to develop new technology based industries.

Denis wants a country in which every young person has the opportunity for a job and with the skills required to earn a good living. More resources are needed job training programmes and the reintroduction of small business enterprise programmes.

Companies with a dominant position in the supply of food such as Fonterra must be subject to rigorous control to ensure that overseas prices are not used to justify increases in food prices here. A revamp of the Commerce Commission is needed so that it has the powers to achieve fair food pricing.

New Zealand does not need more taxes. We need better economic development.

Top 5 Issues

1. We’ll have ONE LAW FOR ALL.
   
   Which means:
   
   • We all own our foreshore and seabed
   • We fly one flag
   • We have one court system
   • We follow one set of laws
   • We have one social welfare system
   • A NZ health system
   • A NZ education system
2. We will rebuild our failing economy with
   
   • Export plans to treble returns
   • Savings plans for economic freedom
   • NZ currency for NZ not Wall ST
   • Tax breaks for real wealth creators
   • Real research and development incentives
   • Rewards for the nation’s builders
3. We stand for a fair tax system, where everyone pays a fair share.
   
   So we are going to rewrite and simplify NZ’s mangle of tax laws so that they are understandable, unavoidable, and fair.
   
   Everyone will pay their fair taxes.
   
   That means:
   • Less personal tax
   • Less company tax
   • Less GST at 12.5 not 15%
   • Removing double tax on savings
   • Removing GST on rates
   • Removing secondary tax
4. Exporters create our real wealth. We have a plan to help them.
   
   New Zealand First will keep our currency pegged to that of our main trading partners.
   
   That way the exporters will be able to expand, increase exports and create new jobs, new wealth for the Family New Zealand
   
   We will stop the sale of state owned assets, and the control of our power stations and the lakes and rivers that feed them.
   Will stop the sale of our prime farmland to foreign interests.
5. We need to support our young people to stay, live and work in New Zealand. Here are just some of our policies:
   
   1) More trade training for our young people
   
   2) We will help pay the wages for apprentices using dole money and an employer top up
   
   3) We will help students pay their loans as long as they qualify and stay here
   
   4) And we’ll throw out fictitious national standards in early education opposed by 90% of the teachers

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