On the Tiles: TOP leader Raf Manji on how winning Ilam electorate would benefit Christchurch

The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji. Photo / Supplied

The leader of The Opportunities Party (TOP) belives this election is the chance for Christchurch to get an independent voice representing their city into Parliament.

TOP was founded before the 2017 election by economist Gareth Morgan, but has failed to crack the 5 per cent threshold to get into Parliament in the past two elections.

Former Christchurch city councillor Raf Manji has led the party since January 2022, and while the party is still pitching for party votes nationally, Manji is pushing hard to take the Ilam electorate in Christchurch.

Speaking to On the Tiles, the NZ Herald’s politics podcast, Manji told host Thomas Coughlan that a lack of recognition for the wider electorate outside Christchurch means that most people can’t pronounce the electorate properly - often going for E-lam rather than Eye-lam.

“The public were used to Peter Dunne in Ōhāriu, which was Wellington, so everyone kind of knew about it. [And] David Seymour in Epsom, which is Auckland, so everyone knew about it, and this is the first time I guess a Christchurch seat has had the potential to bring in a kind of an independent party or a very small group of MPs.”

Manji said the city needs a strong voice in Wellington to advocate what works best for the city itself, citing issues such as the loss of the city’s polytechnic and Three Waters.

“Whether you have a Labour MP, National MP, whatever, they’re not gonna be getting up and banging the table and saying, ‘Christchurch in the South Island, X, Y, and Z’, and I’m gonna be doing that.

“And there are a whole bunch of issues here that people are seriously hacked off about - the MDRS (Medium Density Residential Standards) is one of them.

“We don’t need it. People don’t know Ilam at all. You can already do development anywhere you like. We did all of this rezoning post-earthquakes. I chaired a finance and strategy committee, which oversaw the increase in land supply all the way out to Selwyn, and that’s why house prices in Christchurch have been very, very steady.”

He does not believe that position would hurt the party outside the city as he said the standards are useful in places like suburban Auckland where there are closed-down shops next to train stations.

“Where’s the kind of six-storey apartment blocks? They should be by the train station. Now, we don’t have any train stations in Christchurch. The Government has put no money into transport in Christchurch.”

Looking nationally, TOP’s major policy is to introduce a land tax that would reduce the tax from income and see a new tax of 0.75 per cent on residential urban land.

“Basically, if you’re a young person, you should be rushing to the ballot box to vote for this because this is your future that you’re trying to deal with.”

Listen to the full episode of the On the Tiles podcast for more from Manji on TOP’s economic policies, his thoughts on the Budget being announced next week, the “meaningless” debate on the size of government, and how his chances in Ilam are looking.

On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.