Meet the candidates in Ōpunake

​Tonight, I spoke at the Meet the Candidates hui at Everybody's Theatre in Ōpunake, a great evening of discussion organised by Ōpunake & District Business Association. First question: crunchy or smooth peanut butter (i went with crunchy). Second question: rugby or league - and I yelled out 'soccer' to which the MC responded, "and that's how you end your political aspirations in Ōpunake." lol
Hopefully, I improved slightly when it came to discussing actual politics. Regenerative agriculture, public transport, stopping seabed mining and keeping the Māori ward - I tried to jam as much as I could into my speaking time.
On the question of installing security cameras in Ōpunake, I explained that the key to a safer society is building strong and vibrant communities. The biggest safety concern for me is climate change and the extreme weather events associated with it. There are no cameras needed to record that but instead urgent action to reduce emissions while building our local resilience.
For the question about the lake in Ōpunake, I articulated the need to look at the whole Waiaua catchment. Monitoring confirms, the water is pristine when it leaves Te Papakura o Taranaki but after traversing 20kms of farmland, it is in a dire state. The key is to work with hapū and iwi and Andy Whitehead from the community board noted that the lake in fact used to be a kūmara garden.
On rates capping, I took the position that we need to bring social justice into the discussion. Decades of underinvestment in public infrastructure by previous generations has created this problem for us. I suggested, that GST on rates (essentially a tax on a tax) is particularly unfair for lower-income families, but also renters because GST is a regressive tax that hits the poor harder.
Finally, there was a question by NPDC councillor Dinnie Moeahu to TRC councillor Neil Walker around his well-publicised shocking behaviour with the TRC's submission on the Treaty Principles Bill where councillor Walker, with others, shut down any debate. Neil Walker was unapologetic despite the fact that an internal TRC review concluded that the decision-making process had been inconsistent with Council standing orders, established meeting protocols and the broader principles of good governance, transparency and natural justice.
I would like to remind voters that it was in fact the incumbent Neil Walker who voted in favour of reducing South Taranaki’s representatives from three to two at the September 2021 council meeting. Like Stratford was awarded some years ago, a special option was presented to the council which would have resulted in two Māori seats and retained South Taranaki’s three seats. Councillor Walker voted against that proposal and as a result, South Taranaki lost one seat and all Māori across the Taranaki region were reduced to only having one seat. Hopefully, this can be addressed at the council’s next representation review but for now, let’s all vote to keep the Māori ward.
The very last question - a summary in only three words - is obviously a challenge. I was thinking about 'climate justice now' or 'stop seabed mining'. In the end I went with 'Keep Māori Wards'. Kia ora tātou.
Photos - Dinnie Moeahu and Fiona Young. Thank you!