North Canterbury News: September 10, 2020

ELECTION 2020
6 The North Canterbury News, September 10, 2020
Electorates home to
diverse communities
By ROBYN BRISTOW
The Waimakaririand Kaikoura
electorates are diverse. Both have large
urban centres,and in the case of
Waimakariri, two Christchurch suburban
populations.But both are also hometo
large farms,wineriesand vineyards,
lifestyle blocks, ruralresidential
properties, and smalltowns.
Bothare held by National, and the
National party vote in both electorates
were well ahead of other parties in 2017.
Waimakariri
The Waimakariri electorate’s northern
and southernboundaries are largely
definedbythe Ashley/Rakahuri River in
the north,the Waimakariri River in the
south and the Puketeraki Range to the
west. It spills acrossthe Waimakariri River
to include the Christchurch Citysuburbs of
Casebrook and Belfast.
The main rural towns are Oxford, Cust,
Rangiora, Woodend,Kaiapoi, the new
community of Pegasus, and Belfast.
The winning candidate in the 2017
election, National’sMatt Doocey, captured
57.6% of the 39,334 valid electorate votes
for candidates in the seat. The seathad
been been won in 2014byDoocey, with a
margin of 2506. He increased his majority
in 2017to10,766.
The National Party also captured a
majority (53.6%)ofparty votesin
Waimakariri, down 3.9 percentage points
on its party­vote share in 2014.
Turnout(totalvotescast as aproportion
of enrolled electors)in2017 was 83.6%.
The Waimakariri district, which is a
large part of the electorate, is one of New
Zealand’s most popularplaces to live, and
continues to grow as people seek alifestyle
outside Christchurch,but within
commuting distance of the city.
It has alsoprovided asafe havenfor
many exiting Christchurch after the 2010
and2011 quakes.
In June lastyear there were about 62,800
peopleliving in Waimakariri district. It is
oneofStatisticsNew Zealand’s top three
projectedpopulationgrowth areas (for the
2013­2043 period), thirdbehindSelwyn
andthe Queenstown LakesDistrict.
Candidates:
New Conservative: Leighton Baker
(ContestedEpsomin2017), No 1onthe list;
ACT: JamesDavies;
National:Matthew Doocey, sittingMP,
31st on the partylist;
ONE: Nikita McCausland;
SocialCredit:Lawrence McIsaac;
Labour: Dan Rosewarne, (Contestedthe
electoratein2017),56th on the list.
OPINION
McALPINES MITRE 10 MEGA RANGIORA -OCEAN WATCH
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ELECTORATE PROFILES
Note: Nominationsinall seats remain
open untilSeptember 19.
Kaikoura
The Kaikouraelectoratesprawls across
the north­easternSouthIsland, from Cook
Strait in the north to the Ashley/Rakahuri
River in thesouth.
At more than 21,000square kilometres, it
is NewZealand’s fourth­largestgeneral
electorate by area.
Its main towns are Blenheim and
Kaikoura. Other townsincludePicton,
Havelock, Cheviot, Hanmer Springs,
Culverden,Amberley, Sefton, and Ashley.
The electorate boundaries werenot
changedinany recent boundaryreviews.
Blenheim is the largestpopulatedarea
in boththe electorate and theMarlborough
region.Itisthe country’s 17th main urban
area, with 26,400 people.
Its surroundingareaiswell known as
the centre of New Zealand’s wineindustry
and it enjoysone of New Zealand’s
sunniest climates, with hot, relatively dry
summersand cool,crisp winters.
The electorate also takes in the Waipara
Valley wine region, an increasingly
popularwinegrowing areawith many
award­winning vintages beingproduced.
It alsoencompasses someofNew
Zealand’s most spectacular tourist spots,
from the Marlborough Soundssouth to
Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura.
National has heldthe seat since its
establishment in 1996.
It is currentlyrepresented by National’s
Stuart Smith, who won the seat with a
margin of 10,553in2017. National also won
the largest share of Kaikoura’s votes–53%
to Labour’s 29%.
Kaikoura tends to have ahigh voter
turnoutcompared withthe restofthe
country, with 83% of enrolled people
voting.
Candidates:
NZ First: Jamie Arbuckle (Contested
electorate in 2017);
ACT: Richard Evans(Contested
electorate in 2017);
Labour: MattFlight,78th on the list;
New Conservative: David Greenslade
(Contestedelectoratein2017);
Social Credit: John McCaskey,
(Contestedelectoratein2017);
Green: RichardMcCubbin, (Contested
electorate in 2017);
ONE: Don Moore;
Outdoors:Darlene Morgan;
National:Stuart Smith (Sitting MP) 32nd
on party list.
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Waimakariri
Focus from Dan Gordon, Mayor
Adistrict blooms
Last Fridaymarked 10 years since we were
all rudely awakened by amajor
earthquake thatsignificantly changed
Kaiapoi,Pines Beach and Kairaki, as well
as the wider district, forever.
This was adefining moment in our
history and the impactofthis event has
been felt eversince—and not just with
aftershocks.
Much has happened in those10years
and Iamproud of the way our community
rallied and helped to rebuild. Today,it’s
worthreflecting on the factthat our
recoveryistestimony to the spirit and
strength of you all.
The council had arole in rebuilding and
I’m also proud to have been partofthe
team led by David Ayers (thenmayor) and
the chief executive Jim Palmer, who
provided astrong direction for recovery
that focused on peopleand put community
first.
They were supported by aunited
council, which came together to identify
and deliver solutions thatwould provide
new facilitiesand upgrades,not onlyin
Kaiapoi but acrossthe district. We spoke to
the communityindepthand developed a
plan that reflected what the community
wanted.
Sincethen, we’ve been working hard to
rebuild town centres,support businesses
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to recover and attract investment. We’ve
also been delivering on the outcomes in
the Waimakariri Residential Red Zone
Recovery Plan.
This includes building new facilities
such as parks and reserves,walking and
cyclingtracks, aBMX track,dog park,
restoringalowland forest,aswell as
allocating mixed­use business areas and
the infrastructurethatservicesthem all.
If you haven’t visited the regeneration
land in Kaiapoi recently, Iencourage you
to do so. It’s outstanding the progress that
has been made here.
Work continues, with projects such as
softball fieldsand mahinga kai areas to be
developed, as wellasthe shovel­ready
project to reduce the impact of flooding on
urbanand rural areas of Kaiapoi,toname
afew.
Unfortunately, the event to mark this
anniversary has been postponed because
of Covid­19 and will now take placeon
Friday, September 25.
It will be agreatcommunity eventand
will give everyone an opportunity to see
just how far we have come in the last 10
years.
I’m sure,onsuch an important
milestone,all residents willtake amoment
to reflectonour journey as acommunity
and just how far we’ve come together.
No safeguards with bill
Dear Editor,
In response to Dr Frank Kueppers,
(The Case for Euthanasia, North
Canterbury News,September3), the End
of Life Choice Act will put many of us in
danger.
Nothing in thisact guarantees the
protection required for vulnerable
people, including the disabled, elderly,
depressed oranxious, and those who feel
themselves to be aburden or under
financial pressure.
The international evidence, contrary
to what Dr Kueppers says, backs these
concerns, whichexplains why so few
countries have made any changes to the
law around this issue.
Does Dr Kueppers know that one­third
of all euthanasia deaths in the Flemish
region of Belgium aredone without
explicit request? Many elderly people
are fearful of going to see adoctor or
going into rest homes.
And, as adoctor, he would know that
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
diagnosis and prognosis are based on
probability, not certainty.
My mother, after being diagnosed with
cancer, was given only weeks to live. She
lived for another 3years.
The act we are voting for relies on a
diagnosis that aperson suffers from a
terminal illness likelytoend his or her
life within six months.
This bill is flawed. There are no
safeguards to elder abuse, coercion,
misdiagnosis,and aslippery slope
(Belgiumextended ‘‘assisted suicide’’ to
children in 2002).
Contrary to public misunderstanding,
there is alreadyreasonable choice in that
life support or optional treatment can be
legally refused, and full pain relief is
available even if it shortens life.
Yours,
J. Goulding
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Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows
Waimakariri 10:24am 2.1 4:10am 0.8 11:11am 2.1 4:57am 0.8
5:45am 0.7 12:26am 2.1 6:34am 0.7 1:15am 2.1 7:24am 0.6 2:06am 2.2 8:15am 0.5 2:56am 2.3 9:09am 0.5
Mouth
10:48pm 2.0 4:39pm 0.8 11:36pm 2.0 5:31pm 0.8 12:01pm 2.2 6:22pm 0.8 12:51pm 2.2 7:12pm 0.7 1:43pm 2.3 8:01pm 0.6 2:33pm 2.4 8:50pm 0.5 3:24pm 2.5 9:40pm 0.4
Amberley 10:24am 2.1 4:10am 0.8 11:11am 2.1 4:57am 0.8
5:45am 0.7 12:26am 2.1 6:34am 0.7 1:15am 2.1 7:24am 0.6 2:06am 2.2 8:15am 0.5 2:56am 2.3 9:09am 0.5
Beach
10:48pm 2.0 4:39pm 0.8 11:36pm 2.0 5:31pm 0.8 12:01pm 2.2 6:22pm 0.8 12:51pm 2.2 7:12pm 0.7 1:43pm 2.3 8:01pm 0.6 2:33pm 2.4 8:50pm 0.5 3:24pm 2.5 9:40pm 0.4
10:33am 2.1 4:19am 0.8 11:20am 2.1 5:06am 0.8
5:54am 0.7 12:35am 2.1 6:43am 0.7 1:24am 2.1 7:33am 0.6 2:15am 2.2 8:24am 0.5 3:05am 2.3 9:18am 0.5
Motunau 10:57pm 2.0 4:48pm 0.8 11:45pm 2.0 5:40pm 0.8 12:10pm 2.2 6:31pm 0.8 1:00pm 2.2 7:21pm 0.7 1:52pm 2.3 8:10pm 0.6 2:42pm 2.4 8:59pm 0.5 3:33pm 2.5 9:49pm 0.4
10:35am 2.1 4:21am 0.8 11:22am 2.1 5:08am 0.8
5:56am 0.7 12:37am 2.1 6:45am 0.7 1:26am 2.1 7:35am 0.6 2:17am 2.2 8:26am 0.5 3:07am 2.3 9:20am 0.5
Gore Bay 10:59pm 2.0 4:50pm 0.8 11:47pm 2.0 5:42pm 0.8 12:12pm 2.2 6:33pm 0.8 1:02pm 2.2 7:23pm 0.7 1:54pm 2.3 8:12pm 0.6 2:44pm 2.4 9:01pm 0.5 3:35pm 2.5 9:51pm 0.4
10:35am 1.6 4:22am 0.6 11:22am 1.7 5:07am 0.6
5:53am 0.6 12:35am 1.6 6:40am 0.5 1:22am 1.6 7:28am 0.5 2:10am 1.7 8:18am 0.4 3:00am 1.7 9:10am 0.4
Kaikoura 11:01pm 1.6 4:52pm 0.6 11:48pm 1.6 5:41pm 0.6 12:10pm 1.7 6:30pm 0.6 12:59pm 1.7 7:18pm 0.5 1:48pm 1.8 8:06pm 0.5 2:38pm 1.9 8:54pm 0.4 3:28pm 1.9 9:44pm 0.3
*Not for navigational purposes. Wind and swell are based on apoint off Gore Bay. Maori Fishing Guide by Bill Hohepa. www.ofu.co.nz www.tidespy.com Graphic supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd.
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