01/02/2026
Who the heck is this guy? I've seen some of you ask, and some of you answer, so here it is, my bio, 51 years summed up in eight paragraphs. I hope it gives you a sense of who I am, and the ability for you, as my supporters, to talk about our campaign with anyone who asks.
please share with your friends. We're fighting for a better NZ for the average NZer... the one who is struggling with cost of living, and having hard conversations with their kids about the future under a coalition govt that is more about protecting to***co companies' profits than peoples' ability to afford the mortgage, food, and the power bill.
If you are in Whangarei and can help, in ANY way no matter how small, please Join us Feb 9, for OUR FIRST CAMPAIGN MEETING, at 147 Kamo Road, Kamo (at St Johns Church, the golden church, near Kensington fields), from 530pm-8pm. We will discuss how we move Whangarei to a future that is brighter than where this Coalition has led us. Instead of division and joblessness, we need a new govt that will actually look after people who are struggling with the cost of living. And build up our society and public services rather than degrading them.
"My name is Gary Payinda, and I'm an emergency doctor. For the past 19 years I have worked in one Emergency Department: the one at Whangārei Hospital. Every shift, I take care of people who need help—frightened, in pain, struggling financially, mentally, or simply out of options. Emergency medicine shows you very quickly who the system works for -- and who it fails.
I have always been a patient advocate, and I always will be. I fight for the people who are struggling. I want to help build a country where priorities are clear: safe homes, affordable food, adequate healthcare, decent public education, and where we can have the confidence that our children will have better lives than we did.
That belief is personal. When I was five, my father died after a long illness. At ten, my mother—an immigrant forced to leave school to support the family at age 13—was diagnosed with cancer and left disabled. She lost everything and we relied on welfare. It wasn’t charity; it was survival. Without it, I would not have succeeded.
Two years early, at age 16, I was on my own, working and studying -- and was accepted into Johns Hopkins University. I was able to attend thanks to a scholarship. I completed a BA in Biology and a Master's degree Science Journalism, investigating how political priorities shape who thrives and who doesn't.
I went on to medical school at the University of Chicago and emergency medicine training at LA County Hospital, one of the largest inner-city hospitals in the US. It served everyone, regardless of ability to pay, and reinforced my belief that government should exist to protect people’s wellbeing, not just pad private profits. During this time I was elected to the national executive board of the nation's largest doctors’ union and helped raise my two kids.
I moved to Whangārei with my wife and two toddlers in 2007. Northland has been our home ever since. I’ve since served on the Northland District Health Board, deployed with disaster relief teams in the Pacific, worked as a pre-hospital and rescue helicopter doctor, served as the National Medical Director for Surf Life Saving NZ, and worked part-time to help terminally ill patients avoid suffering at the end of their lives. I currently sit on the New Zealand Resuscitation Council, helping set the guidelines and training with which the nation's healthcare workers save lives every day.
Across every role—doctor, advocate, volunteer, husband, father—one principle guides me: people deserve fairness, dignity, and opportunity. My life shows what’s possible when we invest in healthcare, education, and social support.
That is the New Zealand I believe in—and the one I will keep fighting for."
-- Dr Gary Payinda
