The National Party has selected Joseph Mooney to stand in the Southland electorate for the 2020 General Election.

Joseph Mooney is a senior trial lawyer and has built his own law practice in the Southern region.

“I’m very excited to be selected as National’s candidate for Southland and I’ll be hitting the ground running in the lead up to September 19. I’d like to thank the local Party members for their support,” Mr Mooney said in a statement issued following the selection confirmation in Alexandra tonight.

“There is a short time to go until the election and I’m determined to work hard to make sure Southland has strong representation in Wellington.

“Southland is a large, diverse electorate with farmers, orchards, businesses and workers throughout. From our more populated tourist towns like Queenstown and Te Anau, agricultural hub Gore and now Alexandra, to our tightknit rural communities, everything you could need can be found here.

“There is no doubt that Southlanders are a hard working, determined group of people, but right now they are all worried about the future, what the state of our economy will look like, whether they will have a job and how they will support their family.

“More than 200,000 people are currently unemployed, with a further 436,000 on a wage subsidy. When that ends in September New Zealand could be looking at half a million people unemployed.

“National is focused on supporting Southlanders and their livelihoods, from backing Kiwis who have lost their jobs and are looking to start their own business, to backing existing businesses to take on another employee.

“I care about this part of the country and our community. Southlanders can be confident that I will be a strong, vocal representative for them under a National Government after the election.”