The Star: October 22, 2020

9
ELECTION 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Thursday October 22 2020 The Star
Brownlee bites back over claims
‘I know it very well and I
know the people very well’
• By Hugh Collins
and Louis Day
GERRY BROWNLEE is
“comfortable” with the
commitment he has shown to
what was his Ilam electorate
for 24 years and has disputed
claims he was
disengaged from the
community.
Brownlee lost the Ilam
electorate he had occupied
for National since
1996 on Saturday to
Labour’s Sarah Pallett.
Former city councillor
Raf Manji, who lost to
Brownlee in the Ilam
contest in 2017, said he was not
surprised Brownlee lost the
seat.
Manji said Brownlee had not
had enough of a presence in
his electorate over the past few
years.
“I don’t think you can just
turn up once every three years
and do three weekends of
street-corner meetings and feel
like you’re fully engaged in the
community,” he said.
Brownlee said to suggest
he had been disengaged from
the Ilam community was
Controversial party
gets some city votes
• By Louis Day
ADVANCE NEW Zealand
gained notoriety in the lead-up
to the election for pedalling
misinformation and conspiracies
about the pandemic.
Only days before the election
the party’s Facebook page was
shut down for breaching the
social media giant’s
misinformation policies.
But this did not stop
20,878 people voting
for the party from
across the country
including 839 from
within Christchurch.
This is more than
the 372 constituents
which opted to support
the party across Dunedin’s
two electorates.
Advance New Zealand coleader
Billy TeKahika has in the
past claimed billionaires have
developed weaponised viruses to
enslave humanity and that the
Government was authorising the
military to enter people’s homes,
while also planning to implement
forced vaccinations.
The ideologies of Advance
New Zealand also appeared
to appeal more to those in
Christchurch than those in the
three electorates that cover the
Billy Te Kahika
“completely wrong.”
“I am very comfortable
with the commitment and
work I have done over the years
but as I say the electorate has
made another choice and that
is fine, that’s democracy,” he
said.
“I think what
Raf Manji has
conveniently forgot
is that for the six
years when I was
earthquake recovery
minister, I spent the
majority of my time
out here [Ilam]. I
was born in the Ilam
electorate and have
lived there all my life so I know
it very well and I know the
people very well,” he said.
There was speculation
Brownlee would resign from
Parliament after losing the race
for the electorate. However,
Brownlee told reporters
during a press conference in
Parliament on Tuesday that he
would be staying on.
“Christchurch needs to
have some National presence,
and we don’t have that as of
Saturday night, so I think
there’s a job to be done there.”
Raf Manji
city of Wellington, with only 301
votes from the capital going to
the party.
However, the support
drummed up for the party in
Christchurch is less than what the
party managed to capture across
Auckland. More than 5000 people
voted for the party across the
several electorates that comprise
the Auckland area.
Kaipara ki Mahurangi
was the electorate within
the super city to produce
the most support for
Advance New Zealand,
with 479 votes.
The electorate within
Christchurch to draw
the most votes for the
party was Christchurch
East with 259 votes,
closely followed by Christchurch
Central on 225.
A total of 202 Wigram
constituents gave their support
to the party as did 153 from
Ilam.
Just outside of the city, 328
voters from the Banks Peninsula
electorate, 238 from the Selwyn
electorate and 254 from the
Waimakariri electorate backed
the party.
In spite of the number of votes
for the party across the country
it was not enough to get a seat in
Parliament.
REBUTTAL: National Party deputy leader Gerry Brownlee has refuted claims he was
disengaged from the Ilam electorate in the years leading up to his election night ousting.
PHOTO: GETTY
Christchurch-based
Act candidate sneaks in
• By Louis Day
AS LABOUR managed to claim
every single electorate across the
city, one Christchurch-based
MP of an alternative allegiance
managed to find a different route
into Parliament.
Act’s Toni Severin has gained a
seat after the party claimed eight
per cent of the party vote. Sitting
at ninth on the list, this gave her
a route into the Beehive with the
party winning a total of 10 seats.
Severin, who has campaigned
for Act since 2008, contested
the Christchurch East electorate
which was retained by Labour’s
Poto Williams, losing by 20,228
votes.
In spite of losing the race
for the electorate by a sizeable
margin, Severin said she would
continue to advocate for the east
of the city.
“It is all of New Zealand
that helped to get me there
[Parliament] but with
Christchurch East, as that
is my home base and a lot
has happened there with the
earthquakes and the rebuild,
anyone in the electorate who has
any issues can feel free to come
see me,” she said.
Toni Severin
Severin owns a water blasting
business with her husband and
has worked as a lab technician at
the CDHB for 14 years.
On the Act party website she is
described as a: “Licensed firearm
owner who understands the
impact of the gun law reforms
the Government implemented
last year have had on law-abiding
citizens in New Zealand.”
Severin said she was all
about freedom of choice,
especially when it came to
schools.
“With Christchurch East
with the zoning a lot of people
are constrained with where they
can send their kids. There is
nothing wrong with the schools
we have out here, but it would
be great if parents had more
choice.”
Every child is likely to receive
around $250,000 of taxpayerfunded
education throughout
their life. Act wants to give this
money directly to parents and
allow them to choose where it
is spent and which educational
institution their children are
taught at.
Alongside providing parents
with freedom of choice when it
comes to the schooling of their
children, Severin said another
priority for her would be the
recovery of the Covid-19 hit
economy.
“Helping the economy will be
really important because I see
so many small businesses like
my own struggling, so I will
definitely be helping to push
that and making sure that the
Government are kept in check.”