UC student stands for Act in Christchurch Central

Matthew Fisken is the second University of Canterbury student running for parliament, standing in the Act seat in Christchurch Central.

With the election fast approaching, a second University of Canterbury student has announced they are standing, this time in the electorate seat of Christchurch Central.

Matt Fisken, a law and political science student at UC, has been selected as the Act Party candidate for the Christchurch Central electorate.

In the last Canta issue, we reported on Luke Jones, a political science and communication student, standing for the Labour Party in Selwyn.

Fisken, who is 47th on the Act Party list, was a Youth MP for ACT MP Nicole McKee during Youth Parliament in 2022. Originally from Invercargill, Fisken is on the ACT Region 8 and Young ACT Canterbury committees.

Fisken told Canta that his opposition to firearm law reform in 2019 is what got him into politics. Fisken believes the legislation unfairly targeted responsible law-abiding licensed firearm owners, saying that the reforms have prevented him from participating in certain divisions of sports shooting.

“Only the ACT party spoke out against the rushed legislation and highlighted the issues it would cause, it was then that I first became involved in the ACT party,” he said.

Since then, he has been heavily involved in the ACT Party as a Youth MP in 2022, a local volunteer at events, as well as founding ACT on Campus.

“The ACT Parties' classical liberal values align with my personal views around personal freedom, responsibility and limited government interference,” he said.

“I believe that all people have equal rights and should be given equal opportunities to succeed. I support laws and policies which help keep our communities safe and allow our country to be productive and prosperous.”

Fisken is realistic about his chances in Christchurch Central and says that his campaign would focus on increasing the party vote in the electorate.

The inner-city electorate has predominantly been a Labour strong hold with the seat being held by both the former Labour Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and the former Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel.

From 2011 – 2017 former National MP Nicky Wagner held on to the seat by a slim margin until being defeated by incumbent Labour MP, and former UC Law lecturer Dr Duncan Webb, who has held the seat since then.

Fisken is up against Webb as well as National candidate Dale Stephens, Green candidate Kahurangi Carter, and NZ First candidate Mark Arneil.

Fisken’s message to young or first-time voters was to take time to look into their local candidates and their party’s.

“If someone does this, they will see that the ACT party is the only party that will deliver real change and put New Zealand back on track to being a prosperous, safe and successful country,” he said.