Climate change, cost of living, lack of health workers the issues Whanganui faces ahead of general election

Whanganui leaders weigh in on the issues community is facing ahead of the 2023 general election. Photo / Bevan Conley

Issues ranging from climate change to the economy and a lack of health workers are on the minds of Whanganui leaders when it comes to what they want to see from Whanganui’s MP after the October 14 general election.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said a key issue facing people in the region was the rising cost of living.

The issues people were facing were tied to what he called the three ‘I’s.

“Inflation, interest rates and insurance [are] all high, and it’s putting pressure on all of our community, including the council as well,” Tripe said.

With Treasury forecasting inflation will remain high, he said people refixing loans would likely see their interest rates increase, which would make things tougher in the future.

He was also concerned about climate change resilience given the multiple weather disasters earlier in the year.

“The reality is that we need to be prepared for any kind of weather event. [One] will happen at some stage and that’s just reality, and we need to show we are resilient to that,” he said.

This included making sure the region’s road and connectivity networks were resilient to extreme weather, as well as infrastructure in the city and in rural areas.

Concerns surrounding the economy were also at the forefront for the Whanganui Chamber of Commerce chief executive Helen Garner.

Garner was recently at the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce national conference, and her concerns for Whanganui were similar to those expressed nationally.

“Number one, get inflation under control with urgency,” Garner said.

Bringing the economy back to where it was in years prior was also high on her list, as was reducing the deficit in infrastructure investment.

“We recognise we’re not as competitive on the global stage as we have been in the past; we recognised that prosperity as a nation seems to be declining and we need to turn that around.”

She also wanted to see an end to the Fair Pay Agreement and a return to the previous system of individual negotiations of employee pay.

Tūpoho iwi chairman and Whanganui rangatira Ken Mair said the issues presented by climate change had not been discussed much by candidates, but needed to be addressed urgently.

So far on the campaign trail, he had seen nothing substantial from local candidates concerning climate change, but considered it a no-brainer of an issue and something we needed to build resilience against yesterday.

“Whether we like it or not, we have to deal with it, and it’s going to cost us a lot of money if we don’t deal with it.

“We need to have a clear ... local plan in place with the support of central government, of our local MPs and, more importantly, the community as a whole around resilience and preparedness,” he said.

Another key issue for him and iwi as a whole was the return of land which had been unlawfully taken by the Crown.

“A lot of people know that historically, our land was stolen. and there need to be mechanisms in place to assure ... our lands can be returned.”

He also wanted to see a more value-based and collaborative approach between the community, iwi and hapū in future Whanganui developments.

Such a system has been used on projects such as Te Pūwaha and was starting to be used for Te Puna Hapori, the development of the new Whanganui justice hub, but he wanted to see it expanded on and utilised in future projects.

Whanganui Regional Health Network chief executive Judith MacDonald said the issues facing healthcare in Whanganui revolved around a lack of access to health workers.

“Primary care, general practice, practitioners, physios, pharmacists, community pharmacists, nursing - we are severely short of an adequate workforce to meet the needs of our community.

“Provincial and rural New Zealand are really starting to feel the squeeze of not having an adequate workforce.”

The shortage of staff had been affecting the speed at which people had been able to access care, both provincially and within the city.

“We know that there’s waiting time in general practice and we know there’s waiting time to get seen, and that is impacting on people’s wellness, and that bothers me,” she said.

She said the cause of these issues had been the local health infrastructure not growing or receiving adequate investment to cope with the rising population.

“You need an infrastructure ... to keep pace with the needs of the people who are coming in, and I don’t believe we are keeping pace.”

Whanganui’s incumbent MP, Labour’s Steph Lewis, is up against National’s Carl Bates, Act’s Craig Dredge, New Zealand First’s William Arnold, the Green Party’s Marion Sanson and the Animal Justice Party’s Sandra Kyle.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.