North Canterbury News: September 28, 2023

NEWS
4 The North Canterbury News, September 28, 2023
Plenty in common
Candidates square off
By DAVID HILL,
Local Democracy Reporter
Rivalcandidates at an election
meeting in North Canterbury found
they had plenty in common.
Candidates fromfour political
parties were put in the unusual
position of praising each other’s
policies at an election meeting at
Balcairn Hall,near Amberley, on
Monday evening.
More than 100 peoplepackedinto
the halltohear from threecandidates
vying to be Kaikōura MP, including
sitting MP Stuart Smith (National),
Emma Dewhirst (Labour) and Jamie
Arbuckle (New Zealand First).
The fourth candidatewas Lan Pham,
the Green Party’s BanksPeninsula
candidate, whowas fillinginfor
Richard McCubbin.
During thecourse of the evening, the
candidates were asked to name
policies fromeach of the other parties
they liked.
Mr Smith said therewas alot of
collaboration between the parties in
Parliament.
He said New ZealandFirst had
‘‘borrowedanumberofour policies’’,
he likedthe Green Party’s energy
policies,and National and Labour
oftenworkedtogether on legislation.
‘‘I don’t thinkpeoplerealise we do
get on. We collaborate behind the
scenes otherwise we wouldn’tget
things done.
‘‘Questiontime isn’tatrue reflection
of what goeson.’’
Ms Dewhirst said she liked New
Zealand First’s fair pay policy, there
was alignment with National on
several transport initiatives, and the
Greens and Labour alignedonmany
issues includingfreshwater.
Mr Arbuckle said he liked Labour’s
policies on removingGST from fruit
and vegetables andsupporting
seniors’housing, there was alignment
withNational on regional
development and he was ‘‘a big fan’’ of
the Green Party’s Jobsfor Nature
programme.
Ms Pham said she agreedwith New
ZealandFirst on the need to invest in
the New ZealandDefence Force to
monitor the coastline.
She was pleased to hear National
supported the principalofTeMana o
te Wai (mana of the water), and she
hoped Labourwouldkeep to its
promise of no miningonconservation
land.
The onlyconflict was during a
question of supporting Hurunui’s
beach communities facingcoastal
erosion, where an audience member
feltMsDewhirst was not answering
the question.
Noneofthe candidates offered
solutions, but agreedlocal and central
governmentneeded to collaborate
withlocalcommunities.
Ms Pham said it was time to develop
anationaladaptationplan to provide
guidance for councils.
Public interest journalismfunded
throughNew Zealand on Air.
By DAVID HILL,
Local Democracy Reporter
Waimakaririelectioncandidates sparred
over the issues of crime, healthcare and
the economy during ameeting at
Pegasus.
Matt Doocey (National),Dan
Rosewarne (Labour) and Gordon
Malcolm (Democracy NZ) were quizzed
by the Pegasus Residents'GroupsInc in
front of acrowd of 80 at Pegasus Bay
SchoolonWednesday evening.
Mr Doocey said National planned to
amend the Sentencing Act to ensure
offenders served their timeinprison.
‘‘Too often peoplecommit crimes and
go through the courts, but they can get a
numberofdiscounts and thenend up
going into home detention.
‘‘Judges will only be abletodiscount up
to 40 percent of sentences.’’
Mr Malcolmsaid police wereunder
‘‘hugepressure’’and neededmore
resourcing so they could be more visible
on the frontline.
Meanwhile, Mr Rosewarnepresented
policedata showing robberies had
reduced in the Waimakariri district,
reflecting national trends.
‘‘I have regular meetings with the local
policedistrictcommander and he said
policewere gettingtired of opposition
parties using law and order.
‘‘Theyare worried about the hysteria it
is creating.Crime is not out of control.’’
Labourhas promisedtorecruit300
more policetoreducethe pressure,
while alsoproviding more mentalhealth
resourcing.
On the healthfront, Mr Doocey said the
Waimakariridistrict needed after hours
healthcare to support the growing
population.
‘‘The PHO’s(primary health
organisation) requirement for after hours
care is compliant if you livewithin a 40
minute drive.
‘‘Butthat doesn’ttake intoaccount
housing density, so we have advocated
for highgrowth areas like Rangiora and
Kaiapoi.’’
Therewas ashortage of GPs, but
Nationalisproposing to open athird
medical school targeted at recruiting
GPS for rural and provincial areas.
Mr Malcolm said faster training
pathways were needed for nursesand
medical school quotasfor GPs needed to
be increased.
Mr Rosewarne said therewas aglobal
shortage of nurses.
‘‘Theopposition parties seem to forget
we have just had aglobal pandemic
where100,000 medical professionals
around the world diedduring Covid’’ he
said.
‘‘TheUnitedKingdom, Europe and the
United States are all screaming out for
nurses, but the worldisplaying catch up
due to Covid.’’
Labour is investing in health
infrastructure,has abolished
prescription chargesand is promising
free dental care for under 30s, he said.
The cost of living also came up in the
meeting.
Mr Dooceysaid the government
needed to get on top of inflation and
interest rates with‘‘prudentfinancial
discipline’’.
Debthas risenfrom $5 billion to $100
billionover the last six years and was
now 43% of GDP, he said.
Mr Rosewarne said the latest credit
rating from Standard &Poors showed
New Zealand was in astrong economic
position with ‘‘a modest level of debt’’
compared to other countries.
Inflation was coming down, wages were
rising and more New Zealanders were in
employmentthan ever before, he said.
Public interest journalism funded
throughNew Zealand on Air.
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NZ Agricultural Show –15-17 Nov
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