My family has called Rotorua home for 36 years. John and I brought our children up here and I wouldn't live anywhere else.

I've been a midwife, a manager at Rotorua Hospital, a district councillor, and the MP for Rotorua for the last nine years. After 2008 I am the List MP and Rotorua candidate. I have continued to work with this community and the wider region. I am proud of the gains we have achieved. It has taken hard work and tenacity, but Rotorua can now boast a secure hospital, more pre-schools and education facilities, lower teacher-pupil ratios, improved community safety, long-term funding to clean up our lakes, low unemployment, improved services for young people, Treaty settlements, arts, tourism, environment - all flourishing, all thriving.

It is community that makes Rotorua a great place to live. I work hard to ensure the best outcomes for all of us. My local knowledge and networks keep me informed, and I enjoy fruitful partnerships with government departments, council, voluntary and community organisations and tangata whenua. I believe in making things happen.

When in Wellington I work as the Junior Labour Whip and am spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Senior Citizens, Aged Care and Maternal Health. I also sit on the Officers of Parliament select committee, House committee and the Parliamentary Arts committee. I am the Deptuy-Chair of the New Zealand Parliamentarians for Population and Development and the Chair of the New Zealand/Viet Nam Friendship Group.

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