I feel passionately connected to Tauranga and its people. As a local for the past 16 years, I am acutely aware of the challenges the city faces over the coming years as it continues to grow. But I also know that there are so many opportunities for Tauranga to prosper now and into the future.

I have spent most of my working life as a teacher. Immediately before becoming an MP in 2017, I was the principal of Merivale School. After seeing families struggling in my local community, I worked to support them to access everything they needed to thrive.

I got involved in politics because I believe that the Government has a role to play in ensuring all New Zealanders have access to the services they need.

I have had the privilege of being the Minister of Education, Women and Child Poverty Reduction during the 53rd Parliament.

Latest news and updates:

• Standardised testing will not improve education – National Standards have failed students before, going back to standardised testing is taking us down the same path.
  
  
• Ideological charter schools won’t increase achievement – The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system.
  
  
• School lunches: Tell National you value students' wellbeing
  
  
• Women don’t need a voluntary calculator to know there’s a pay gap – The Government has reportedly scrapped a policy that would have gone far to fix gender and ethnic pay gaps and instead is implementing a watered-down voluntary system.
  
  
• School lunch programme being set up to fail – The Government knew its changes to the school lunch programme would risk achievement, attendance, nutrition and wellbeing of New Zealand children, as well as having wider impacts on reducing child poverty, and made the changes anyway, new documents show.