Speaking to Chris Lynch Media at Eastgate Mall, Butler said she did not originally expect to stand for Parliament, but believed her community needed stronger representation.

“I didn’t want to be here. I need to be here because my community are fed up with this current Government,” Butler said.

“They’re fed up with the high energy prices. They want dry, warm homes and they want a better education for our tamariki too.”

Butler said she also wanted to uphold Te Tiriti and protect whānau, saying the Green Party had chosen her because of her experience in health, her whakapapa and her connection to the community.

“They’ve chosen my experience of 25 years in health. They’ve chosen my whakapapa. They’ve chosen me as a wāhine Māori and I’m proud to be here for the Green Party.”

Butler was previously a member of Te Pāti Māori in Christchurch, but said her values were no longer aligned with the party.

“However, I want the community to know that I’m still here for the whānau and the community, and upholding what is important to our community and their values and their principles.

“What I’m hearing from Christchurch East is that they want hope. They want a new Government and they want someone that will help bring their voices forward and bring mana back into Parliament.”

Christchurch East is held by Labour MP Reuben Davidson, while National’s candidate is Alexandra Davids.

Asked whether she was ready for a tough campaign, Butler said she was not focused on her opponents.

“I don’t know the mahi that Reuben or Alexandra do. I’m just focused on what our community have asked me to bring to this campaign.

“What it is, is bringing their voices forward, listening to them, listening to their dreams, aspirations, struggles, their ideas and their solutions.”

“I’m pushing for the party vote. I want the party vote. We’ve got some really good candidates in there and the more party votes we have, the more candidates we get into Parliament, and they are the voices of our community.”

The Green Party has been rising in recent political polls, and Butler said she was not surprised by the increased support.

“The community will speak. The community will tell us who they’re going to vote for. The community have told us that they want change.”

She said people were asking for basic needs to be met, including warmer homes, lower power bills, cheaper fuel and more affordable food.

Asked what the biggest issue was for people in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs, Butler said rent was one of the main concerns.

“Rent right now for our whānau, they are just barely able to afford their rent. But also, it’s the cost of living across buying food, electricity prices and making sure that they are able to put food on the table.

“It’s so basic. When we’ve got whānau that can barely afford to feed their families every week and they have to decide whether to buy personal care products, period products, or having to feed their children, buy nappies, pay the electricity bills.”

Butler said many families could not afford to heat their homes over winter.

“Our whānau are freezing. Let’s get lower energy prices in there and support whānau into solar power.

“We’ve got the energy subsidy through WINZ at the moment, MSD, but it’s just not enough to keep our whānau warm.”

She said many families were only heating one room because that was all they could afford.

“When you’ve got a whānau of around seven to nine to 10 people living in one home, that’s not healthy.”

Butler said the Greens would continue to campaign on housing, energy costs, cost of living pressures and Te Tiriti.

“We are here to support upholding the mana of Te Tiriti and making sure there’s no divisiveness in that, and that everyone knows that Te Tiriti was signed so we could all be here to speak our language, wear our taonga and be who we want to be.”