Bay voters meet West Coast-Tasman candidates
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A small crowd of voters gathered last week at a "meet the candidates" event in Takaka.
The Grey Power-organised meeting attracted representatives of the Labour, National, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis and New Zealand Representative parties.
Steven Wilkinson is the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party candidate.
"Prohibition is failing every day," he said. "Cannabis is the drug of choice for 400,000 New Zealanders. It should be regulated and brought out into the open. The law just protects the gangs' bottom line."
Mr Wilkinson explained that his party's single policy platform ensured that it had a "green" focus because it opened up the benefits of the legal use of the cannabis plant for fuel and other uses.
Chris Auchinvole, the National candidate for the West Coast/Tasman electorate said that his party was not about "big government". He wanted to dispel what he said were the "myths" about National policy. "We won't be cutting the super or paid parental leave, and bulk-funding for education is a failed policy that we do not support," he said. "We will be retaining the Working for Families package so that people will have certainty about the support they will receive. We favour tax cuts because it's your money. We want Kiwis to keep more of their own income."
Mr Auchinvole said that education, especially assessment and reporting, would be "an unwavering focus" for a National-led government.
"We want to let people know how their children are doing in relation to other children of the same age," he said. National would also introduce army-style training for at-risk youth to give a "fresh start".
Reg Turner is the founder and, so far, sole member of the New Zealand Representative Party.
"The party has no policies and it makes no promises," said Mr Turner. "Once people get to parliament under the current system they become subject to the will of parties. Our elected representatives would seek the opinions of the silent majority on every issue. That way they will truly represent the people who elect them."
Damien O'Connor is seeking re-election for Labour. He suggested that people think carefully about what might change if a Labour-led government was not re-elected. He suggested that New Zealand would see a return to privatisation with such things as Solid Energy, Landcorp and Transpower being likely targets.
"I'm happy to stand on my record and the record of this government," he said. "We have built bigger government. We had to rebuild the public service because the last National government promised that the market would deliver to every New Zealander but it didn't. Our Working for Families package has seen the biggest redistribution of wealth in New Zealand's history and we've devoted hundreds of millions of dollars to extra funding in health. Things like Kiwisaver, Kiwibank and the superannuation fund represent progress but there are still things to be done. The wisdom of Michael Cullen's caution is being borne out now in the current crisis."
Neil Wilson
