Philippa Stevenson for Waikato

try Channel. I have won 17 journalism awards for reporting on agriculture, the environment, science and welfare. I became politically active just days after the 2014 general election when I felt I needed to commit to more than just voting if I was to help change a government that has overseen growing inequality and has all but ignored the threat of climate change. As well being the Greens Waikato Branch convenor I was the Waikato electorate candidate in the 2017 general election. I was born and raised in Fairfield in Hamilton, attended Hamilton Girls High School and Wintec and began my working life as a bookkeeper before moving to Australia. Returning to NZ a few years later I changed direction and began a journalism career with the Hamilton Press. I founded and have voluntarily run the Tamahere Forum community news website for nine years. Two challenges that I am proud to have undertaken are taking part in the longest strike in New Zealand journalism history and representing the Tamahere community and the Lovell family at the Coroners Court hearing into the death of firefighter Derek Lovell in the Icepak Coolstores fire at Tamahere in 2008. I love the Waikato and care about it deeply. Farming is the region's mainstay and is undeniably important to the local and national economy. It has also transformed the Waikato and even over my lifetime I have seen immense change in the style and impact of farming. The big question for the Waikato is what its farms and its environment will look like in the future. I know from my long time in agricultural journalism that farmers have an impressive ability to quickly adopt new ideas and technology when they can see the benefits. Clearly, now that decades of some past practices have been shown to have a detrimental effect on the environment - and long term prosperity - we must continue to look at what we can do differently to ensure our rural economy and environment is sustainable for the future. We owe it to succeeding generations. I’m looking forward to having discussions with Waikato people about how the green Waikato can be greener still. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Waikato branch convenor, Philippa Stevenson. A Greens point of contact for people in the Waikato electorate