Kia ora I’m Nandor. Allow me to introduce myself.

First, my name. It’s pronounced Naan (like the bread) and door. My surname is Tarnt (rhymes with aunt) zosh. Nāndor Tānczos. My father is Hungarian, hence the name. He had to flee for his life in 1956 after the Hungarian Uprising, in which he fought as a young student, was crushed by Russian tanks. He became a refugee and went to England where he met my mother. She is Cape Coloured from South Africa, and left her homeland as apartheid was being constructed.

I was born in England and we came to Aotearoa when I was about 7. I grew up mostly in Auckland, but I spent a year living with my grandparents in what was then Communist Hungary when I was 14. It was an important time for me, learning to speak Hungarian and getting to know my culture, but I also saw how that kind of centrally planned economy doesn’t work. My background has given me a dislike of both left and right wing extremes. I’m more interested in what works for real people than what is theoretically correct.

My children whakapapa to Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Rangitihi, Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani and Ngāti Kahungunu. This helps me to be able to walk in Te Ao Māori as well as in the Pākeha world. We have to be able to walk, and work, together if we want future generations to prosper.

I have done a lot of different things in my life. I know what it is to be homeless and I know what it is to be a landlord. I’ve been a businessman for 30+ years. I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and Sustainability and am a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors – which means I have proven my ability to assess financial reports and make good governance decisions. I was a Member of Parliament for almost 9 years and I’ve been on council for the same. I’ve been appointed to governance and advisory boards by both Labour and National Party ministers. In Parliament I had a reputation as a pragmatic problem solver who could work with anyone. I built alliances across all political parties on different issues.

An example is my work getting the Waste Minimisation Act passed. It was a private members bill, the most ambitious and comprehensive piece of legislation on waste and waste minimisation that NZ has ever had. It passed it’s first reading by a slim majority, with a commitment from the Labour Party only to send it to a select committee. In the select committee we worked for around 18 months to amend and revise it, collaborating with business, community recycling groups, the waste industry, packaging manufacturers and others. In the end the bill was passed with support from all parties except ACT and it has had a huge impact on improving waste reduction in New Zealand.

People get curious about why I have dreadlocks. I’m a member of the Rastafari faith, and having dreads is a part of my religious way, along with drinking no alcohol. I know that some people will not vote for me because they don’t like how I look but I also believe that most New Zealanders are more mature than that. Most will judge a person by what they do and say, not by how long their hair is. New Zealanders are mostly generous and open-minded, willing to give anyone a fair go.