He is keen to see the drive for broadband internet availability in rural areas continue.
The rural broadband initiative (RBI) was ''a very good start'' but there was still a significant portion of the rural population that would not have access to internet at anything approaching urban speeds or prices once the RBI was completed - and the gap would continue to widen as time went on, Mr Hewett said.
''The heartland productive sector that underpins New Zealand's economic performance deserves and needs better comms to ensure it remains able to act as the economic powerhouse that it is, now and into the future.''
He saw the roll-out of broadband to rural areas as having as important ramifications for productivity gains as the building of the rural electricity network 50-60 years ago.
Mr Hewett, who farms in the Manuka Gorge and is also chairman of Silver Fern Farms, wanted to see support and initiatives to encourage people to move to rural areas and take up jobs that were available.
''We have heard recently about the points system adjustments being contemplated for immigrants, encouraging them to settle in New Zealand away from metropolitan areas in general and Auckland in particular, but what about encouraging New Zealanders to do this, also?''
Similarly, he raised the possibility of bonding doctors and teachers to two years of country service after they completed their qualifications in return for reducing their student loans.
When it came to rural New Zealand roading, if the Northland by-election could generate an offer of 10 bridges, replacing the Beaumont bridge on State Highway 8 could surely get ''priority, urgency and certainty''.
