Penny Simmonds: I have never been a great believer that the state knows more than the regionAmong the ranks of Southland’s movers and shakers, precious few have moved or shaken the place half as much as Invercargill’s newly confirmed electorate MP Penny Simmonds. The young woman was 37 and readily acknowledged that she mightn’t fit the perception of what a chief executive could be. “There are a lot of new directions being moved into,’’ Simmonds said at the time. In any case, Invercargill is in many ways a city that has been transformed by Penny Simmonds’ career to date, as reflected in a 2016 New Year’s Honour as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Her election campaign pledge has been that she knows how to make things happen and can get things done.

Source: Stuff November 10, 2020 16:02 UTC