New Zealand First has named former police officer Gavin Benney as its candidate for Whangārei.

The announcement was made by former Regional Development Minister Shane Jones during a public meeting this afternoon at Semenoff Stadium in Whangarei before party leader Winston Peters’ speech to a packed lounge.

Benney, a Whangārei District Councillor, will be up against National List MP Dr Shane Reti, Labour Party’s Warren-Clark who is currently a List MP based in the Bay of Plenty, and DemocracyNZ’s Diana Burgess.

Those are the only candidates announced to contest the Whangārei electorate so far.

Sitting MP, Labour’s Emily Henderson, isn’t contesting this year’s election after winning the seat from Reti in 2020.

Benney said he was asked a couple of months ago by the local NZ First board and his initial response was no, but changed his mind after further talks.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters addresses party supporters at a public meeting in Whangārei. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Crime in the city— and by extension Northland as a whole— he said was front of his mind.

“My thought is there is nobody that would do anything about it. I am sick and tired of people moving to the South Island, to Australia, to get away from the crime here, and you can either sit back or get up and do something about it.

 “Although I am standing for Whangārei, I am standing for crime prevention in the whole region. I look at the drivers of crime and this is where I like the New Zealand First policy.”

He said kids that were five years old would get into petty crime, then they would develop into youth gangs, and into criminal gangs if they were not stopped at a younger age.

Benney said there was still a place for prisons for some people, whether anyone liked it or not, as they were a danger to society when not in jail.

“I am a huge fan of the Broken Windows style of policy. It means all criminals start at a lower level. If you ignore that and leave that, they progress slowly up the ranks. You deal with them at the time.”

Police needed to be on the streets more and police stations must be opened 24 hours, unlike the case at present, he said.

Benney wrote a report titled “Rangatahi Response” on youth crime in Whangarei and offered solutions, including the need to prioritise victims and to involve social agencies in any plans around youths and their whanau.

He said although crime was a huge area of concern for him, he was not a one-trick pony when it came to issues Northlanders have been concerned about for decades.

“Being in local government has given me a good understanding of things like roading. We’re like a desert island up here. We’re cut off at Warkworth, physically and economically. The roundabout at Warkworth is a signal,” he said.

However, he said one was hamstrung while being in local government and that the real difference would be to be around the decision-making process in Wellington.