The Star: September 21, 2017

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12 Thursday September 21 2017 Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi ELECTION COUNTDOWN The Star Voters are making the decision Reporters Gabrielle Stuart and Bridget Rutherford go into the suburbs and test the mood of the voters AFTER SIX years away from Christchurch, Ra Bennett was exploring the Wigram area with fresh eyes last week – and the change she discovered left her awestruck. In the years following the earthquakes, new subdivisions have sprung up in Broomfield and Wigram – rows of modern homes in shades of taupe and grey, behind immaculate gardens. Multi-level black glass office blocks have replaced the run-down shops in Addington, and the shopping centres have spread out and up. On Thursday, Mrs Bennett was exploring the Hub Hornby, which has been redeveloped and expanded over the last three years. “This place has grown so much. It is absolutely beautiful,” she said. “And Bush Inn? Wow, that is the place to go. There is so much amazing food. And little Wigram is so beautiful now.” She would have every reason to be unhappy about the state of Christchurch. An east side girl, she lived most of her life in Aranui, surrounded by her extended family. When the earthquakes struck, she lost not only her home, but her community. So she left the city for the North Island. She moved to her new home in Hornby this year to be closer to her family – who had been left for months in the east without working toilets, for years navigating broken roads, and still battling the mental scars. But although some in her family blamed the Government, she didn’t. She was still undecided about which way she would vote on election day – but when it came to the rebuild, National had done DOWN TO EARTH: Riccarton Community Garden organiser Loretta Te Paa said Labour politicians often helped out there, but she had not seen any from National. PHOTO: GABRIELLE STUART Howard Westwood a good job, she said. “Everything that has changed for since the earthquakes has been for the better, as far as I’ve seen,” she said. But living just up the road in Hei Hei, mum Sharon Cooper, has a different political view. She lives across from the Wycola shops, and was out for a walk in the sunshine – but she’d prefer to be at work. She had taken time out while her three children were young, but with the youngest now two and a half, she said she wanted to be working again. But in spite of applying for Ra Bennett Sharon Cooper Kinjan Shah dozens of jobs over the past few months, mostly in retail, she’d had no luck. That was why she voted Labour this year, she said. She cast an early vote last week. “Under National I have struggled to get a job, and it’s not for lack of trying. I’m not getting employed,” she said. “I have occasionally voted National, but not this time. I need hope. I want a job, a future.” She saw a lot of Megan Woods around the area last election, but hadn’t seen her or National’s David Hiatt out campaigning this time. “I say bring Helen Clark back,” she said. The Wigram electorate stretches from Islington in the west, east to Spreydon, and from Hoon Hay right up to Avonhead. The Cutts Mini Mart dairy sits in Russley, at the top of the electorate. Dairy owner Kinjan Shah said the election had come up a few times in small talk with his customers – but it was still not as popular a subject as the weather or sports. “Right now more people are talking about the rugby most weekends,” he said. Megan Woods David Hiatt Sitting right on the corner, the dairy was usually a magnet for billboards and political signs. But this year no one had approached him about signs – in fact, he hadn’t seen anything of either candidate. He said Jacinda Ardern had made the election race more interesting, and he often saw her speeches shared by friends on social media. But he still leaned blue: “I think National works more for small businesses,” he said. Jessica Clark moved to the area with her husband six months ago, and was out on her driveway painting furniture. She said she had not yet made up her mind about which way she would vote, and hadn’t met any of the candidates for Wigram. But she said care of the environment was the most important issue for her. “I really don’t like how chemicals are being sprayed everywhere,” she said. Across in Riccarton, Loretta Te Paa was weeding the community garden, hat on to shield her from the sun. She said Megan Woods was a familiar face at the garden, and at their community coffee sessions in the local hall. Even Andrew Little – then the Labour leader – had visited earlier in the year, she said. They hadn’t helped with the weeding during the visit, but they’d had a good excuse, she said. “It was a terrible stormy day.” They had won her vote for Labour, she said – although not for Dr Woods, as Ms Te Paa was enrolled in the Maori electorate. Beautiful Teeth Meet the Owner Ryan Carlton Natural Smile Free Consultation, No Obligation • Full Dentures • Dentures Repaired • Implant Assisted Dentures • Injection Moulded Flexible Partials • Relines • Mouthguards • Additions/Repairs • Purchase cleaning and care products from our website. All dentures personally designed and created to ensure a comfortable natural fit. DENTURES PLUS (2014) LTD Denture Clinic and Laboratory 396 Innes Road, St Albans. Phone 385 5517. Email: denturesplus@paradise.net.nz www.denturesplus.co.nz Orbiter Bus stops Innes Road
The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi Thursday September 21 2017 13 ELECTION COUNTDOWN based on community issues Further up the road, Chris Mackay was less of a fan. He was out on the porch enjoying a coffee with his mum, Teresa Shaw. Theirs was one in a row of new two-storey social housing units, which replaced the roughlooking houses there before the earthquakes. “Megan woke me up the other day, parked in her car outside with her speaker up loud,” Mr Mackay said. “Ah, early in the morning?” “Nah, it was the afternoon. But I still wasn’t happy about it,” he said. He said he planned to either vote Labour or the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party – he was still undecided. Ms Shaw said Dr Woods had worked on their behalf last year, to get them a transfer from their old social house in Spreydon, where she was having issues, to their new unit in Riccarton. She said she had voted National in the past, but now planned to support Labour. “When Labour was in I decided something needed to change, so I voted National. I thought they could do better for the country. But they screwed it,” she said. At the bottom of the electorate, in Spreydon, retired carpenter Howard Westwood, was heading home from the shops on his scooter. His family all voted National, but he usually voted Labour, he said. He said Jim Anderton, who was Labour MP for Sydenham from 1984 to 1989, had played a part in winning his vote, when he supported workers who had been made redundant. “The first time I met him I thought he was an arrogant bugger. But then he did a lot to help the lads out,” he said. But as far as he was concerned, one politician was like another, he said. “I know Megan’s helped a few people through their earthquake issues. But any MP would have done that, that’s what they are Rush Jopson there for.” Over in the Christchurch Central electorate Dorothea Mc- Kenzie has already cast her vote – she’s backing National. She reckons party leader and current Prime Minister Bill English is a “man of honour.” “And I admire that.” The 89-year-old often voted based on her values, and Mr English’s and National’s were similar to hers. “He’s a family man and after all, New Zealand should be a family country. He’s up front, forthright, and he says what he means.” Ms McKenzie has lived in the Christchurch Central electorate for 62 years – now at Diana Isaac Retirement Village in Mairehau. Her electorate has been brewing as the most hotly-contested in the city with Ms Wagner coming up against former lawyer Duncan Webb. Ms Wagner has held the seat since 2011 after winning it off Labour for the first time in the electorate’s history. She beat incumbent Brendon Burns by a 47-vote majority. In 2014, Ms Wagner expanded her majority to 2420 against Labour’s Tony Milne. Ms McKenzie said this was one of the most exciting elections she could remember, and Labour leader Jacinda Ardern had “fired people up”. “I think people are thinking more because this lass that’s come into it, is full of vitality, and I think the young will enjoy her very much,” she said. “I think she’s doing a very good job but I’ll still go along with National.” Mairehau’s Michael Welham is also voting National – as he always has. DECIDED: Mairehau’s Michael Welham said he would be voting for National because he liked its policies. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN Dorothea McKenzie Geoff Druery Anne McMurtrie He hadn’t paid too much attention to the battle for Christchurch Central, between Ms Wagner and Dr Webb. He would vote for Ms Wagner because she was National and he liked its policies, and the way it had kept the economy afloat. That’s not to say he wasn’t impressed with Ms Ardern. “She’s got a personality that is natural. But you have to look behind her, and I don’t see the strength there. She can’t do it all on her own, that’s what would worry me.” Edgeware’s Rush Jopson said traditionally he had voted Labour, and he did not see that changing this election. “I know Duncan Webb and about what he wants to do and what he’s doing.” He liked Labour’s policies such as axing secondary tax, and some of its environmental policies. Nicky Wagner Duncan Webb “I’m not far left enough to vote Green, but I think Labour tackles some of the environmental issues we need to look at.” Ms Ardern had added “energy and excitement.” “It feels like maybe some people who wouldn’t normally take as much interest are getting a bit fired up, which I think is good.” Merivale’s Geoff Druery said the election had been turned into a personality issue with the rise of Ms Ardern, rather than being based on policies. He said Ms Ardern had done a good job, but Mr English had too. “He doesn’t have the charisma like John Key, but I still think he’s doing a good job.” Mr Druery said he had always voted National, and didn’t plan on changing that. It would be too close to pick who would take the Christchurch Central seat, he said. Overall, he thought National would get into Government by a “very small margin”. “I just think they’ve done a very good job. The rest of the world was in crisis [global financial crisis 2007-08]. We weren’t, so why not keep them on,” he said. “I just want the country to have the best Government it can have to meet the needs that are in the country, be they wealthy or poor.” Former lawyer Anne McMurtrie lives in the Ilam electorate, and in spite of having her office next door to Ilam MP Gerry Brownlee for more than 20 years, she is a Labour voter. She said Christchurch in general was a bit special in the sense it had very specific issues. •Turn to page 14
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The Star: September 21, 2017

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