I was born in Hunterville, a small community north of Palmerston North in the Rangitikei electorate. I have been living in the region on & off for the last 30 years and currently live in Palmerston North with my husband and three teenage children.

I went to Massey University in the 1980's to complete my bachelor of business studies majoring in Human Resources and Training and Development and then moved to Auckland to work and live for a period of 9 years. I worked in the areas of Hospitality and Human Resource Management.

When my husband, Brendan, and I started our family we wanted to live in a friendly and compact city and chose to move back to Palmerston North as it had an easy living feel to it.

Since being back in the city I have worked at Massey University, for a period of 10 years, while studying full time for my Masters in Business Studies, which I completed in 2000. I worked in Human Resources, Project Management and Commercial Operations at Massey and built strong networks with the Massey community.

As General Manager & Director, I currently run Hotel Coachman. I am also a part time Project Manager at Te Manawa Museum. Brendan and my sister Ali also work in the Hotel.

My passion for Palmerston North finds me dedicated to community organisations. I was chairperson for Destination Manawatu, and was involved and on the board for the past 6 years. I am is also a member the Palmerston North Rotary Club, as well as being active in many other community projects which includes managing the Christmas Parade for the past 4 years.

I was selected as the National Candidate for Palmerston North in February 2011.

My interests include my family, the community, photography & cycling.

Top 5 Issues

1. Building a stronger economy
   • Balance the books sooner.
   • Borrow less so we can have lower interest rates for longer.
   • Keep personal taxes lower to encourage hard work.
   • Make New Zealand more competitive so our exporters can sell more overseas and create more real jobs.
   • Encourage savings and investments.
   • Use the mixed-Ownership model to fund infrastructure to help us grow faster.
   • Invest in skills training and tertiary education that gets results.
2. Building world-class infrastructure
   • Ultra-fast broadband for greater innovation.
   • More, and better, roads to ease congestion.
   • Investing in more rail and public transport.
3. Building a safer New Zealand
   • Staying strong on crime – tougher sentencing, stronger bail laws, and a focus on victims.
   • Keep working to lower the crime rate further so our families are safer.
   • Making our roads safer, so we can keep the road toll lower.
4. Rebuilding Christchurch
   • $5.5 billion recovery fund
   • Re-establishing essential infrastructure
   • More construction-related training
5. Building better public services
   • Better Schools – identifying and helping children falling behind, school reports in plain English.
   • World-class healthcare –more doctors and nurses, more operations, shorter waiting times.
   • Effective welfare- more people back into work, more incentives to work, payment cards for teens on benefits.

Personal Profile