Dr Alexander (Alec) McNeil might be Marlborough’s waste boss, but it turns out having a crack at Parliament is actually the “final bit of the jigsaw” he’s been missing.
McNeil, Marlborough District Council’s solid waste manager, is the Green Party’s Kaikōura candidate for the 2023 election.
McNeil said he was always looking a fresh challenge, and running for Parliament had been on his radar for a long time.
“I’ve always been politically interested and stimulated by that side of life,” he said.
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“I’ve worked in the private, and then in the public sector, and I’ve been on the recipient side of policy and legislation my whole career. This is just the final bit of the jigsaw that’s missing.
“I guess that’s what the attraction is, to actually be involved in the formation of policy and the legislation that supports it, if I manage to get through and into Parliament.”
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McNeil moved to Blenheim from Scotland in 2008 with his family. At the time, he had just sold up a recycling start-up he established with colleagues from his job in the corporate waste sector.
“We grew that from zero to a multimillion-dollar turnover with 120 staff,” he said.
“We got to the five-year point when the next level of investment was required, and we decided that it was better to partner with another company.
“That business still exists to this day, and some of the staff, including some of my partners, are still there working 20 years on.”
Anthony Phelps/STUFF
McNeil says running for Parliament has been on his radar for some time.
He said when they moved to New Zealand his wife was their main “wage earner” while he worked from home. He quickly got drawn into the Tuamarina School board, where his two boys went to school.
“I had young kids in the system and I wanted to support them,” he said.
“I got involved in the school on the governance side, became the chair of the board, and with the principal we achieved various things at the school.”
He also joined a national School Trustees Association, and became the regional chair for Nelson Marlborough.
“Then during that period my wife went back to studying, and I took on a job at council in 2011,” he said.
Ricky Wilson/Stuff
McNeil first started working for the Marlborough District Council in 2011.
“In council, I’ve done all sorts of things, starting from strategy and planning.
“I’ve also got involved, with council support, on numerous working groups across the country and serve on a couple of boards, and I’m generally just heavily involved in the overall waste management industry.
“In between that, I started further education and got through to the doctorate level as well.”
While he did not want to be “dismissive or blasé” about his work, he described it as a series of challenges.
“These things are just things you set your mind to, and you just knuckle down, get on with the hard work, and hopefully you get down to the right outcome.
“This is just another version of that, it’s just a challenge and something you have got to build on.”
He said he was looking forward to getting out and learning what challenges were facing the community, and how that could be “translated back to the work of Government”.
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With support from the council, McNeil said he has been able to be on numerous working groups across the country and serve on a couple boards.
“I think the Greens have got the most progressive policy platform, I think there’s no aspect of life that they haven’t got covered,” he said.
Asked if he was intimidated that Marlborough was traditionally a blue-leaning seat, he said the first priority was to get people to vote, and do so “authentically”.
“You have got to get involved in democracy, and you have got to become part of the system,” he said.
“If you have a proportional government made up from interested parties that can work together – then I think that’s a positive thing.
“It’s quite clear for us that we want more Green MPs at the cabinet table so that we can influence the direction that Cabinet takes, bringing into consideration the effect of climate change on our places, people and planet.”
A statement announcing McNeil’s candidacy said the party had a vision for addressing inequality, mitigating climate change, and protecting the natural environment.
“We can rebalance the economy to meet the needs of everyone, protect our living planet, and ensure nature can thrive,” McNeil said.
“But the pace of change is too slow, climate pollution is not coming down fast enough, too many people are struggling to make ends meet, too many homes are unaffordable and unhealthy, wealth is out of balance, native plants and animals are under threat.”
