Apec Schools: The people's view

By Claire McCarthy

Hanofu Ikiua,

taxi driver

The Apec meeting is good for the taxi industry, says Hanofu, whose company has had a huge block booking of cabs over the period. He won't be affected by the road blocks because his taxi will be registered to travel in the closed areas. He thinks Auckland is now a big enough city to host powerful international leaders, but he hopes New Zealand negotiates well at the conference so free trade will work for our country.


Les Barry,

retired

Les believes free trade is all very well for big countries like the United States because they can set the rules. But in New Zealand people with good experience and skills lose their jobs because our industries are too small to compete with overseas products coming into the country. He thinks the Government should be doing more to help New Zealand-owned businesses and creating jobs, rather than fussing about an expensive extravaganza like Apec and trying to impress President Clinton.

Judith Morrison,

property manager

Judith thinks that although the traffic build-ups will be annoying, they will only be for a couple of days while the main meeting is on, and most people will understand the reason if you are late to get anywhere. She agrees with the theory of free trade because she doesn't think selected industries should be subsidised by taxpayers. However she thinks all countries should play by the same rules - the United States should not have put tariffs on New Zealand lamb when they claim to be pursuing free trade.

Kelly Dethierry, 18,

high school student

Kelly had been able to buy her own car this year because tariff cuts, which are a part of "free trade," had brought prices down. However she thought that the perks for consumers had to be balanced against the fact that many New Zealanders had lost jobs in some industries. Although pleased she has a day off school, she says that she won't be able to get into town because it will effectively be closed for the day.

Pete MacKinley, 32,

panelbeater

Pete believes Apec is an example of the Government pandering to big business and important leaders while neglecting ordinary New Zealanders. His family is from Hastings and he says that it's depressing to see how provincial towns like that have really suffered because there is not enough money around. Many small businesses have had to shut down. Pete also thinks efforts to "clean up" Auckland city for delegates is a bit of a joke, because they should see its good and bad parts like everyone else does.

Charlyene Shaw,

store manager

Charlyene is disappointed at the lack of information given to Aucklanders about the conference. She already spends 45 minutes in Auckland traffic getting her kids to school then heading on to work in the morning, and she has no idea what roads will be open and how bad the traffic will be when the conference is on. She doesn't think free trade has benefited New Zealand as it was promised because the country is too small to protect its economy in the way that Australia and the United States protect their interests.

Ana Peni, 19,

polytechnic student

Ana believes it's difficult to tell how the average person's life has been changed by free trade. She thinks its nice that imported goods are cheaper but that it's also a pity if New Zealanders are losing jobs because our economy can't compete. As part of her travel and tourism course she's toured the hotel where she thinks President Clinton will stay and she is quite impressed that his presence will turn Auckland into a high-security international city.

Tim Greig, 17,

high school student

According to Tim, buying "New Zealand made" and encouraging local industry is better than getting cheap, often poorer quality, imported goods. His father is a sheep farmer and Tim believes free trade hasn't helped lamb exports because farmers are forced to sell stock at much lower prices. Still on the topic of meat, he has heard that New Zealand's finest prime beef has been reserved for the conference delegates, which he thinks is very unfair for other Kiwis who like their bit of steak.

* Claire McCarthy is a journalism student at the Auckland Institute of Technology.