Ethan Reille made waves when he was named as the Labour Party’s candidate for Waitaki at just 18 years old, but he says his age will not deter him from being a strong voice in the electorate.

Ethan (who will turn 19 in July) visited Lake Hāwea on Thursday night (June 29) for one of a series of public meetings he has been holding around the electorate. 

His visit was one of three political meetings in Wānaka on Thursday evening, and it attracted only a handful of people. He also held a meeting in Wanaka last night (Friday. June 30).

Read more: Meetings highlight concerns about democracy

A Waitaki Boys graduate and former head boy, Ethan says his interest in politics was sparked in early 2020, when the first wave of Covid-19 hit New Zealand and Kiwis were rallying to support each other.

“I got the sense that our community, but also our country, had become so unified,” he said. “It felt almost unbreakable.”

Things have changed “very drastically” since, he says, “but I still hold that sense of unity and I know we can bring it back.”

When he finished school Ethan wanted to stay in the community continuing the work he was doing - and continues to do - for the Waitaki District Council in community development support. 

He has a lengthy CV for someone so young, including roles like chairperson of the Waitaki District Youth Council, Youth MP for the 2022 Youth Parliament, and NZ Kiwibank Local Hero Medalist.

In his role as Youth MP Ethan spent a year shadowing Hon Rachel Brooking (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, and Food Safety, and Associate Minister for the Environment, and Immigration) which he said was a “very, very exciting” experience which helped shape his views.

Ethan’s top three issues are the cost of living (and its crossover into housing), plus healthcare and education, and he touched on how all of those issues affected the Upper Clutha area during his talk in Hāwea.

He said housing was an electorate-wide issue, but pointed to specific challenges in the Upper Clutha.

“In Wānaka there’s a relatively good supply of housing but they're not being unlocked into the market. We know that there are a lot of holiday homes and the affordability just isn't there.”

On education, he listened in to attendees’ concerns about the prospect of eventually closing down Hāwea Flat School and moving it to Lake Hāwea.

He said smaller communities like Hāwea can lose out when it comes to healthcare, because the distance to health providers can be both onerous and expensive, and listed concerns and ideas he had heard from other places he has visited. 

“I don’t have the answers to everything but I know members of our community do have ideas and those ideas absolutely can be collaborated and represented,” Ethan said.

“That’s why I’ve been getting out and about as much as I have, to hear about the issues you are facing and find some of the solutions too.”

He strongly believes the whole electorate, even one as big as Waitaki, can be represented.

“Within a few days we’ve managed to get around every single part of the electorate,” he said.

“I think as long as you’re strategic in what you’re doing, and you’ve got that commitment and drive to actually represent the needs of your community, you can absolutely do that.”

PHOTO: Supplied