Candidates have shared their views on key issues including the referenda. Photo / File
As the 2020 general election fast approaches, candidates in the East Coast general electorate were asked for their views on key issues including transport, health, the upcoming referenda, Covid-19 recovery and more. Here's what they had to say.
Why should voters vote for you or your party?
The Green Party has achieved more in the past three years than any government in the past 30 years on everything important. We have shown leadership on all the relevant issues facing New Zealanders today. Issues such as equality, housing, tax, climate change, ecological environmental wisdom, infrastructure, health and education.
What will you or your party do for the electorate if elected?
Te Tairawhiti has one of the strongest advocates in its history if I am elected. I am wholly committed to ensuring this electorate has an equal voice at the decision table. I will not be wasting any of my time and energy making empty promises, I will do my job.
Top priorities for health
The absolute top priority in health is equity. Everyone in this nation deserves to have access to a highly professional and utterly caring health system. We believe it starts with health literacy in our homes and schools, it also starts with nurses and health professionals that are highly valued.
Top priorities for education
Our education system needs to be prioritised and reformed. It is time to address the intentional bias towards those from Māori and Pasifika homes. It is time to listen to those the system impacts the most and it is time to raise expectations, be more culturally inclusive and grow leaders.
Top priorities for transport
Transport networks are a key challenge for the East Coast Electorate and have been since the mothballing of the rail line. The top priority will be reconnecting this link and ensuring we have a multi-modal modern transport network. I will promote a climate change-focused transport system.
What needs to be done to recover from the effects of Covid-19?
Covid-19 recovery needs to have a strong, transparent and informative focus as many are concerned and heightened anxiety has created more conspiracies. I would be looking to build up the CDEM capacities and give space for open conversations with communities and concerned citizens.
How will you vote in the End of Life referendum?
The referendum concerns me, as I am all about life. I believe we need to respect those who are dying and the care they want to receive. I will be voting no as I believe we need more input from our communities especially tangata whenua and our younger generation.
How will you vote in the cannabis referendum?
I am grateful for all the work and focus on how we do better in regulating this drug. I do believe this legislation gives an opportunity to discuss cannabis use and its impacts on our communities. As a youth worker and health practitioner, I will be voting a cautious yes.
Why should voters vote for you or your party?
Advance NZ/NZPP will restore democracy, conduct independent research into foreign investments, corruption in government and regulatory agencies. We will take a risk-based approach to Covid-19 recovery that prioritises compassionate and financial support for the vulnerable without limiting the freedoms of all New Zealanders. We stand for freedom over fear.
What will you or your party do for the electorate if elected?
Focus on child health and safety; Invest resources into dealing with the methamphetamine problem to end its vicious hold; Replace 1080 and glyphosate with practical and environmentally friendly alternatives; Stop blanket planting of pine trees on productive farmland; Unwind UN Agenda 21 and 2030 to protect the Kiwi way of life.
Top priorities for health
The current state of our food, water, environment, technology and medicine is having a detrimental effect on our people's health and wellbeing. We are systematically being poisoned. Further education and a focus on more holistic health care is a priority for the nation's wellbeing.
Top priorities for education
Education starts at home; it is crucial parents/caregivers have the knowledge and skills to care for their children. Society has become dependent on a system that fails to encourage individual learning and has forgotten knowledge and practices that humanity has relied upon for thousands of years.
Top priorities for transport
Our priorities are to increase funding for rural and state highways.
What needs to be done to recover from the effects of Covid-19?
Kiwis deserve an approach that properly balances the need to support and protect the elderly and vulnerable without destroying the rights, liberties, financial stability, and hope of New Zealand as a whole. This means abandoning the strategy held by both Labour and National of ongoing rolling lockdowns at any cost.
How will you vote in the End of Life referendum?
Again, this being a referendum, we believe in democracy and we will respect the will of the voters. Within our party different candidates hold a variety of opinions. We believe an MP's view should not count for any more than the average voter on issues like this.
How will you vote in the cannabis referendum?
It's a referendum. We believe in direct democracy. It should be binding, and we will respect the will of the voters. My personal opinion is that the terms of the referendum favour corporate cannabis and that we can do better.
Why should voters vote for you or your party?
New Conservative is not a party of career politicians. All our candidates are frontline workers from backgrounds such as education, health, trades, farming, social work and small business. These are people who know the issues and know what works.
What will you or your party do for the electorate if elected?
I'll address the jobless and homeless situation. Unemployment and homelessness give rise to a range of social issues. When people do not have work opportunities they cannot meet basic needs of providing for themselves or their families or providing a home for their families to live, feel connected and thrive.
Top priorities for health
New Conservative is committed to empowering New Zealanders to take responsibility for their physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health because prevention is better than cure. We will put in place policies to ensure health services are delivered fairly and efficiently particularly for our rural communities and "hard to staff" areas.
Top priorities for education
New Zealand has very good teachers and teachers should be left to get on with the job of the holistic development of our children, without pressure from government ideological indoctrination on our teachers and students. Parental choice must become a prominent feature of our education system.
Top priorities for transport
The roads in my electorate are a priority. High volumes of heavy vehicles pound the roads, patched roads fall into disrepair almost immediately. Often, the roads are so bad Coast residents are stranded or unable to access cities. This is particularly concerning when people need to access essential health services.
What needs to be done to recover from the effects of Covid-19?
Covid-19, combined with a fiscally irresponsible Government, has had a huge impact on people's lives. New Conservative will make the first $20,000 of income tax exempt, putting more money into people's pockets and stimulating the economy. We'll cut red tape for developments, curtail wasteful regulations and have a balanced budget.
How will you vote in the End of Life referendum?
I will vote no. New Conservative is committed to protecting life from the womb to the tomb. The end of life legislation is a very dangerous piece of legislation and is hugely open to abuse of power on the part of the Government.
How will you vote in the cannabis referendum?
I will vote no in the cannabis legislation referendum. There exists a vast body of peer-reviewed studies from prominent institutions that states that legalised recreational marijuana are witnessing a rise in use rates, thriving black markets and physical, social, emotional and mental harms among already poor and struggling communities.
Why should voters vote for you or your party?
I'm standing to make it easier for people to get ahead in the East Coast. Voting for us ensures more money in the pockets of hard-working Kiwis and a government that will spend your taxes wisely with a plan to deal with the economic crisis and provide better public services.
What will you or your party do for the electorate if elected?
A vote for me and National will ensure a bold, competent and decisive government that will stop the debt mountain that Labour is creating. We'll support households and businesses with tax relief to help them get through these tough times and keep more money in the pockets of hard-working Kiwis.
Top priorities for health
I'm fighting to keep our DHB local and tackle methamphetamine harm in our communities. National will deliver faster cancer treatment and a cancer drug fund worth $200 million. We'll also restore National Health targets to deliver faster and more responsive healthcare and address inequities with a Māori Health Strategy.
Top priorities for education
We'll invest an additional $4.8 billion into school infrastructure and establish a $160m annual fund to support children with additional learning needs. We'll scrap Teaching Council registration fees and progressively reduce student-to-teacher ratios in primary schools. We'll reverse the Government's tertiary education reforms that took power away from local polytechnics.
Top priorities for transport
National has announced a $31 billion transport package. There is a need for investment in our roading network across the East Coast from Te Puke to Gisborne and around the East Cape. I will prioritise major upgrades of State Highway 2 and 35 to make our roads safer for families.
What needs to be done to recover from the effects of Covid-19?
National will reduce the risk of government lockdowns through a dedicated Border Response Agency. We will provide tax relief to help our families through these tough times. We'll kick start our economy through the largest investment in infrastructure in history and practical policies like JobStart and scrapping the RMA.
How will you vote in the End of Life referendum?
Against. I'm not confident the processes proposed will protect people by allowing them to make a well-informed decision in a time of stress and pain. I'm concerned that the process can happen very quickly without needing to let their families know and people as young as 18 can do this.
How will you vote in the cannabis referendum?
Against. Because I'm concerned this will result in an increase in drug driving and be a health and safety hazard in the many industries around East Coast that operate heavy machinery. I support medicinal, but we already have that. I'm against normalising the use of drugs.
East Coast Candidates Kiri Allan for Labour, Jennie Brown for Advance NZ, Veronica King for One Party and Blake Webb for the Act Party did not respond.
Audrey Wilson had repeated falls, a fractured arm and sepsis. She died in hospital.