Selwyn_Times: September 27, 2023
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Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>27</strong> <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
NEWS 9<br />
who they will give tick to<br />
FOCUS: Leeston resident Andrew Taylor said he wanted the new government to have more interest in small<br />
communities, while mum Ché-Louise Ward baby Emilia is looking for a party that will provide good education.<br />
PHOTOS: DANIEL ALVEY<br />
Fone<br />
said he was<br />
traditionally a<br />
National voter<br />
but in the<br />
last election<br />
he switched<br />
to Labour<br />
and this<br />
year he’s still Al Fone<br />
undecided. The<br />
economy was at the forefront of<br />
his mind.<br />
“Part of me thinks someone<br />
new will be good.<br />
“With his business nous,<br />
(Christopher) Luxon will<br />
probably be good.”<br />
Fone wasn’t alone in a focus<br />
on the economy, with others the<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> spoke to wanting<br />
the next government to focus on<br />
reducing spending, rather than<br />
offering election “carrots” that<br />
the country can’t afford.<br />
Another common phrase<br />
uttered was ‘If you don’t vote,<br />
you can’t moan.’<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong>’s voter turnout<br />
percentage in the 2020<br />
election was equal highest<br />
with Wellington Central, with<br />
89.39 per cent of all registered<br />
electors casting a vote (43,<strong>27</strong>7 of<br />
48,411) compared to the national<br />
average of 83.34 per cent.<br />
For October’s election, in<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong> 91.08 per cent of the<br />
estimated eligible population is<br />
registered to vote with the voter<br />
population up to 59,564, and<br />
as of <strong>September</strong> 10 there were<br />
52,924 people registered to vote.<br />
This includes new voters to<br />
the district, like mum Ché-<br />
Louise Ward who moved from<br />
Christchurch to Rolleston about<br />
a year ago. Being new to the<br />
district she is yet to familiarise<br />
herself with the candidates, but<br />
she did have some clear focuses.<br />
“Education is a really big thing<br />
for me. I will be talking to some<br />
of my friends who are teachers<br />
to get their thoughts.”<br />
Ward said Labour’s policy to<br />
remove the GST off fruit and<br />
vegetables would not make<br />
a difference to her family. If<br />
Labour wanted to make a<br />
difference to grocery bills they<br />
should look at removing GST off<br />
other things as well, like health<br />
products.<br />
A similar sentiment was<br />
shared by another Rolleston<br />
mum Laura Chanthon who said<br />
the average saving of $5 off the<br />
weekly grocery bill wouldn’t<br />
make a difference to their<br />
family.<br />
“Definitely (voting for)<br />
National . . . (I) definitely like<br />
Chris Luxon, he seems more in<br />
the know.”<br />
Chanthon said as a middleincome<br />
earner things like tax<br />
cuts would be more beneficial<br />
to her.<br />
Co-governance was also an<br />
issue for some like West Melton<br />
resident Chris Dodds, who<br />
didn’t know where his vote was<br />
going yet.<br />
“Only know I’m going to vote<br />
for the party that won’t give<br />
everything to the Māori.<br />
“They only make up 16 per<br />
cent of the population but get<br />
everything they ask for.”<br />
While some told the <strong>Selwyn</strong><br />
<strong>Times</strong> they were sick of the<br />
Irene<br />
Mattushek<br />
election,<br />
Darfield<br />
resident Irene<br />
Mattushek said<br />
she was looking<br />
forward to<br />
voting.<br />
“I’m quite<br />
excited really to<br />
have my chance<br />
to have a say.”<br />
Mattushek hadn’t decided on<br />
who she was going to vote for,<br />
but she said the issues she would<br />
be looking out for were crime,<br />
housing, support for farmers,<br />
and the cost of living.<br />
“I just went to the supermarket<br />
and all I could afford was two<br />
tomatoes,” she joked.<br />
For Leeston retiree Andrew<br />
Taylor, his concern was who was<br />
going to look after the elderly.<br />
“I’d like to see a change,<br />
there have been a lot of failed<br />
promises.<br />
“I want to see some more<br />
support to go out into<br />
communities like here in<br />
Leeston.”<br />
2020 candidate results<br />
Nicola Grigg (National):<br />
20,986 votes<br />
Reuben Davidson<br />
(Labour): 16,018 votes<br />
Stuart Armstrong (ACT):<br />
1890 votes<br />
Abe O’Donnell (Green):<br />
1749 votes<br />
Bronwyn Lyell (New<br />
Conservative): 910 votes<br />
Calvin Payne<br />
(Independent): 436 votes<br />
Jerry Larason (Advance<br />
NZ): 362 votes<br />
2020 party results<br />
National: 14616 votes<br />
Act New Zealand: 5396<br />
votes<br />
Green: 2092 votes<br />
New Zealand First: 861<br />
votes<br />
New Conservative: 761<br />
votes<br />
The Opportunities Party<br />
(TOP): 564 votes<br />
Advance NZ: 306 votes<br />
Aotearoa Legalise<br />
Cannabis Party: 85 votes<br />
Māori Party: 59 votes<br />
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