Election 2014 feature

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The Candidates Rodney Eric Bolt Labour Party Anton Heyns Conservative Beth Houlbrooke ACT NZ Malcolm McAll Green Party Tracey Martin NZ First Party Mark Mitchell National Party* *Sitting member + same team same great services ere are loads of ways we can help you take care of your body so you can look and feel great! www.activeplus.co.nz + + + + + all ACC & private physio women’s health & continence pilates classes sports massage vocational rehab cancer rehab & lymphoedema service exercise rehab post-concussion rehab Active+ Orewa 47 Riverside Rd | ph 427 4477 GENERAL ELECTION GUIDE September 20 Your guide to the candidates in this year’s general election Don’t vote without it! 9 3 September 2014 Hibiscus Matters localmatters.co.nz/Features/Election Parties of the left and the right are battling it out for the seat of Rodney; although it is seen as a safe blue ribbon seat, sitting National MP Mark Mitchell says he takes nothing for granted. In 2011, National captured 53 percent of the electorate votes cast and close to 62 per cent of the party vote. Key issues raised by Rodney voters on the campaign trail this election include how growth can be managed sustainably, the need for better urban planning, and infrastructure such as roads and public transport. Wider concerns, such as the growing gap between rich and poor, freshwater quality and the sale of land to overseas buyers are also putting candidates on the spot. Local Matters raised these questions, and more, with each Rodney candidate. In this feature, the six candidates, Anton Heyns (Conservative), Eric Bolt (Labour), Malcolm McAll (Greens), Mark Mitchell (National), Tracey Martin (NZ First), Beth Houlbrooke (Act) introduce themselves and discuss the issues.* For pre-election news, and results, visit localmatters.co.nz/Features/ Election2014 *The candidates are presented in random order generated by a draw. Key dates 3 September Advance and overseas voting starts 19 September Advance voting ends Last day to enrol for the election 20 September – Polling Day Polling places open from 9am to 7pm Preliminary results released progressively from 7pm on electionresults.govt.nz. 4 October Official results declared

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Election 2014 feature

Transcript of Election 2014 feature

Page 1: Election 2014 feature

The CandidatesRodney Eric Bolt Labour Party

Anton Heyns Conservative

Beth Houlbrooke ACT NZ

Malcolm McAll Green Party

Tracey Martin NZ First Party

Mark Mitchell National Party*

*Sitting member

+

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www.activeplus.co.nz

++ + + +

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Active+ Orewa47 Riverside Rd | ph 427 4477

GENERAL ELEctioN GuidE September 20

Your guide to the candidates in this year’s general election

don’t vote without it!

9 3 September 2014 Hibiscus Matters localmatters.co.nz/Features/Election

Parties of the left and the right are battling it out for the seat of Rodney; although it is seen as a safe blue ribbon seat, sitting National MP Mark Mitchell says he takes nothing for granted. In 2011, National captured 53 percent of the electorate votes cast and close to 62 per cent of the party vote. Key issues raised by Rodney voters on the campaign trail this election include how growth can be managed

sustainably, the need for better urban planning, and infrastructure such as roads and public transport. Wider concerns, such as the growing gap between rich and poor, freshwater quality and the sale of land to overseas buyers are also putting candidates on the spot. Local Matters raised these questions, and more, with each Rodney candidate. In this feature, the six candidates,

Anton Heyns (Conservative), Eric Bolt (Labour), Malcolm McAll (Greens), Mark Mitchell (National), Tracey Martin (NZ First), Beth Houlbrooke (Act) introduce themselves and discuss the issues.*For pre-election news, and results, visit localmatters.co.nz/Features/Election2014*The candidates are presented in random order generated by a draw.

Key dates3 September Advance and overseas voting starts19 September Advance voting endsLast day to enrol for the election20 September – Polling DayPolling places open from 9am to 7pmPreliminary results released progressively from 7pm on electionresults.govt.nz.4 OctoberOfficial results declared

Page 2: Election 2014 feature

10 Hibiscus Matters 3 September 2014 voteRodney

GENERAL ELEctioN september 20

Phone: 426 7023 [email protected]

www.occ.net.nz

Anton Heyns Conservative PartyWith 24 years experience as a lawyer and barrister Orewa-based Anton Heyns is in the business of representing people’s interests.

Anton Heyns says his greatest strength is his diversity of life experience. He has been a lawyer (also a prosecutor) full time for 24 years. He has completed 25 years of military service and 15 years of farming experience. He has lived and worked with people from all walks of life and diverse race groups and has keenly served every community he has lived in. He grew up in the Drakensberg Mountains (inland from Durban) in South Africa. He was born and lived for most his life on a farm that was in the family for generations. He moved to New Zealand in 2005 with his wife and three daughters. They lived on the North Shore for 18 months and then moved to Manly in December 2006. His wife teaches at Kingsway School in Orewa. Anton was an avid motorcyclist for many years and a keen hunter. He enjoys tramping, particularly in the mountains of the South Island. He is a keen follower of rugby, his wife’s grandfather was a Springbok captain and his grandfather an international referee. Advocating for people’s needs comes naturally to Anton.

He says that as the Conservative candidate for Rodney he can listen to the electorate’s needs, understand the situation and be an advocate to present issues eloquently and effectively at a national level.“I can make somebody listen. I’ve got that ability and skill.” After 21 years specialising in criminal law, the Conservative policies on tougher penalties appealed to his natural sense of justice.“As a lawyer all I’m doing is presenting the other side of the story. I’m a cog in the wheel that provides justice. It’s for the same reason that I think laws are slack. It’s a two edged sword. There has to mercy in the exercise of justice, but there also has to be firmness.” While he has lived in Manly for eight years and is aware of local issues including roading, Penlink, affordable housing, and cutting down on red tape, he once again says he’s here to hear what the electorate needs and represent it.He supports building Penlink to reduce traffic as it affects productivity, the economy and “the way people feel by the time they get to work”. He says it’s important to consider social and economic impacts as the region grows, including more apartments to accommodate single people and small families to take pressure off the demand for land. Protecting large-scale sales of NZ land to foreign ownership is also important, to keep the control and income in New Zealand.Increasing the minimum wage is not the solution to reduce the gap between rich and poor, he says. “This can have a direct negative effect putting pressure on employers who cannot afford it and

therefore creating less jobs.” Instead, he supports with the Conservative policy of putting money in everyone’s pockets, by making income tax free for the first $20,000 and a flat tax after that.“It’s about more money in the pockets of individuals and businesses so they can develop and employ more people, so the economy can grow and in that way hopefully reduce the discrepancy.“The answer is not more laws. It’s about smaller government, less red tape and government spending less on unnecessary areas as a result, and getting rid of the Emissions Trading Scheme is one of the first things the Conservative Party would do. “We consider it unnecessarily burdensome.”Cutting red tape should be happening on a local level as well, and he says it shouldn’t be so difficult to put on local events.“It’s unnecessary and just makes life too hard for everybody.”Overall, Anton says Conservative policies appeal to his personal philosophy of an ordered and self-disciplined life, government and society. “We have to protect our rights but on the other side of the coin, we have to respect others, in our work, in our play, in everything we do.”At a local level, he says he offers the people of Rodney the ability to listen, understand and empathise and to act decisively. “Injustice, waste, red tape, PC and inefficiency push my buttons. I have commonsense, I’m practical, and I’m not scared of a fight if it comes to that.”

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Page 3: Election 2014 feature

Eric Bolt Labour Party

11 3 September 2014 Hibiscus Matters voteRodney

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A lifelong interest in aviation led to being in the right place at the right time for Eric Bolt to stand as the Labour candidate in Rodney. After selling his Silverdale-based accounting business he combined his skills and interests to complete a Bachelor of Aviation Management, creating a crossover period in his career and time for the long-time Labour Party member to get involved at a deeper level.It was also the right timing with growing inequality, child poverty and too many wasted opportunities. While Rodney is considered a higher socio-economic area, Eric says lower income families and creeping poverty cannot be ignored.“People who can’t make ends meet have to make sacrifices and it ends up manifesting itself in healthcare and housing.”Local job opportunities, along with a decent wage and Labour policies of raising the minimum wage and free GP visits for children under 13, is a starting point.As the region grows, he says it’s important to keep diversity in mind, with mixed levels of housing and facilities for different incomes, ages and needs, to build stronger communities.“Some areas of Rodney were designed for temporary holiday accommodation, not long-term rental housing for families. Labour’s policy of ensuring every rental house is a warm dry house will help address avoidable health problems.“Supporting local economic growth, business and regional development is also important to avoid a cycle of disinvestment that affects the character of the area.“If we create a society that is completely dependent on jobs in Auckland then there are less opportunities for lower income people to be involved in local

employment.”Labour policies to help small businesses include apprenticeship schemes and ensuring more government procurement is first offered to New Zealand firms.For people travelling for work or business, transport costs and traffic delays are costing the local economy, and local networks and public transport need to be improved.He supports Penlink and the Hill Street upgrade but does not agree with spending $760 million on the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway extension. He says Labour is committed to immediately upgrading the existing highway from a safety point-of-view, but the rest of the money and time should be spent improving access into Warkworth and upgrading rural roads. “The inference that SH1 is a ‘holiday highway’ is really a misnomer. People tell me it’s not a holiday highway, it’s how we get to work.”Sensible planning, water quality, climate change and creating a sustainable low carbon economy are topics Eric could get stuck into. “In the long run, meeting that challenge is going to have a greater benefit to the economy than the short-term view that Emission Trading Schemes adversely affect profit.”With his aviation management degree and focus on environmental impacts, he knows a thing or two about creating carbon neutral businesses. It creates the same sense of zeal he demonstrates when talking about his favourite hobby, plane spotting, which he can be found indulging in on a Sunday afternoon when not on the campaign trail.

Eric was born in Australia and arrived in Auckland when he was 17. He has been a proud New Zealand citizen since 1986. His working life started in travel after completing a course at ATI. He spent time managing travel agencies in the North and South Island and working in the hotel industry. He joined the airline industry in 1995 working in both passenger and cargo. He set up an accounting practice with his wife in 2003 and soon afterwards moved the business to Silverdale. The couple has been resident in Rodney since and recently moved to Orewa. In 2011 they sold the business and Eric graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Aviation Management at Massey University, where he became involved with the e-centre. He is in the process of developing a software application to help small businesses manage tax, and has returned to work in taxation to support this. He believes the main issues in Rodney are housing, transport and employment. He says care needs to be taken that current expansion plans allow for balanced development making sure that community services are provided locally and our local environment is not affected by growth. Eric’s interests include aviation, singing in a community choir, tramping and the arts.

Page 4: Election 2014 feature

Malcolm McAll Green Party

12 Hibiscus Matters 3 September 2014 voteRodney

GENERAL ELEctioN september 20

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As an architect and builder, Malcolm McAll has promoted sustainable housing and solar energy; he took this one step further with the decision to stand as the Green candidate for Rodney.Witnessing the impact of urban sprawl in Britain, where he grew up, was a starting point for Malcolm’s passion for the environment and his choice of architecture as a profession. He has been active in Green politics for more than 25 years and says it is as much about creating a fair, caring and sustainable society as it is about advocating for the environment.“The free market economy, starting in the mid-1980s, widened the gap between rich and poor, to the detriment of the country. The focus should be on ‘waste not, and want less’, rather than growth at any cost. Growth must be sustainable. Plato said that if the difference between the top and bottom earners is more than a ratio of 1:4, trust breaks down. In NZ it must be 1000:1, and getting worse. That creates an unstable society. The political will to address poverty is vital, and policies such as free healthcare for those under 18 are a step in the right direction. Affordable solar energy will also improve things for low income earners.”“The creation of a higher wage, higher output economy is a strong focus for the Greens. All the fastest growing industries are green tech, but we are not investing in that in NZ. Moving away from fossil fuels and into the next generation of solar energy will create jobs.”Topics that are raised by locals during the campaign include Auckland Council’s decision-making, urban planning, transport and roads.Malcolm supports the building of Penlink as a light rail connection with the City Rail Link and says the Roads of National Significance are not a priority.“The Greens would reprioritise the transport budget, including dropping the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway in favour of bypasses for Warkworth and Wellsford to prevent bottlenecks. Investing in the

northern rail link would also get more freight trucks off those roads.”Malcolm says he understands the frustration with Council; through his work in planning and building he comes up against this first-hand.“Council liability in the building sector needs to be reduced. Liability for issues with buildings used to fall to builders and architects, because they carry insurance. Now it’s often Council, which is so risk averse that they bury themselves in paperwork, adding cost to construction.”He says how growth occurs in urban Rodney is also a concern. He is in favour of denser development, as long as it is balanced with the protection of green space.“At present, growth is developer-led, which creates sprawl without sufficient infrastructure. Smarter planning would preserve green spaces while adopting denser housing in urban centres. Denser housing is part of Auckland Council’s plan, but rather than protecting green spaces, it sees them as potential housing areas. That attitude leads to poor planning decisions, such as the development of the golf course in Red Beach. It is all about the dollar value of land, not its environmental or community value.”Increasing stress on the nation’s waterways is also of concern to the Greens.“The minimum acceptable water quality for our lakes and rivers is swimable and pristine. We consider anything short of that demonstrates bad management and a lack of care. The Greens would give our most precious rivers protection similar to that given to National Parks and set robust standards that must be met. It will take a big effort on behalf of the community and Councils to achieve, but it must be done.”

Malcolm grew up in the New Forest, beside the Cadnam River in the UK, surrounded by ancient oaks, beech forests, small farms and idyllic scenery. He was educated in the UK public school system, built his first house at the age of 20, became a Master Builder and qualified from Portsmouth University as an architect at the age of 33. Taking part in student rallies was his first foray into politics and he joined the UK Green Party in 1989. He and his wife Penny have lived on the Hibiscus Coast for seven years – they moved here for a new challenge, and to increase opportunities for their four children. On arrival in NZ, one of the first things Malcolm did was join the Green Party. For three years, he ran a building company based in Whangaparaoa, and he is currently working as an architect and managing director of a solar power company. Over the years, he has been involved with forestry and with various NGOs concerned with environmental stewardship and conflict resolution. His fascination for social history and interest in craft skills are absorbing hobbies and he is also an amateur architectural archaeologist. Malcolm and his wife live in a carbon neutral house in Stanmore Bay.

Page 5: Election 2014 feature

Mark Mitchell National Party

13 3 September 2014 Hibiscus Matters voteRodney

GENERAL ELEctioN september 20

At the end of his first term in Government as the sitting Rodney MP, Mark Mitchell says his enthusiasm for representing the community remains undimmed, and that party politics will always come second to that goal.During this election campaign Mark says ‘growth’ is the word on everyone’s lips, along with related concerns about the need for investment in infrastructure, particularly roads and schools. He says keeping that investment on track is an ongoing battle.“Northland MP Mark Sabin I lobbied very hard to ensure that investment in the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway was not pushed back and I am still working on getting the Penlink Road project delivered. Some very positive, strong pressure is being brought to bear.”“We are absorbing a lot of growth in the area so I am undertaking a full review of every service area. That includes health, education, law and order and roading, so when the work is complete, we will have a clear idea of what investment we need to retain our quality of life. It will put Rodney in a strong position to secure that investment.”Mark says around 50 percent of the issues raised with him by Rodney residents are Local Government matters but that does not stop him from getting involved.“I will not uncouple myself from local government issues and have built up a good working relationship with the Local Boards and Councillors. People expect their representatives to work together.”In northern Rodney, Mark says there is a lot of interest in the creation of Special Housing Areas, which he fully supports, as well as the effects of the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway on private properties, and the Hill Street intersection.“I’m working with Penny Webster on re-designation of properties affected by the motorway, and

investment to improve things at Hill Street.”He points to achievements such as improving traffic safety around schools with new lights and electronic Slow Down signs in Dairy Flat and Silverdale and funding for a major upgrade of Warkworth School. With most schools on the Hibiscus Coast already at, or near, capacity, discussions about the building of a new college in Silverdale are underway.When it comes to environmental issues such as water quality and climate change that are a focus this election, Mark says National balances caring for the environment with taking care of the economy.The National government introduced standards for freshwater quality recently, setting minimum requirements for rivers and lakes so that the water is suitable for ecosystem and human health. Councils remain responsible for maintaining or improving water quality and Mark is confident that this will provide robust protection for waterways.“Our waterways are national treasures and all Kiwis are conservationists at heart. Every community has a vested interest in clean waterways, so if I would expect the local decision making to support that objective.”He says the government is committed to the Emissions Trading Scheme, which it sees as “an economically effective strategy” to address climate change.“New Zealand’s emissions are low and we don’t want to destroy our country’s competitive advantage by setting unrealistic targets. The objective is to make a fair and affordable contribution to global emission mitigation efforts.”

Mark was born and raised on the North Shore and is an ex-pupil of Rosmini College who went on to study at the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. His first job was as a shepherd on Weiti Station in Rodney. In 1989 he joined the New Zealand Police serving in both the Dog Section and Armed Offenders Squad. During this time he and his Police dog Czar were stabbed with a samurai sword while preventing an armed offender from entering a primary school. Mark never regained the full use of his right arm as a result of those injuries. On leaving the Police, he formed a company in the Middle East specialising in Emergency Logistics and Protective Services, providing support to organisations such as the United Nations and NGOs. He has been decorated by the NZ and Italian Governments for dedicated service and bravery and is a recipient of the British Iraq service medal. In 2011 Mark, wife Peggy and family returned to the Hibiscus Coast, settling in Orewa. Their youngest children attend Orewa and Wentworth Colleges. Mark is Patron of the Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club, where daughter Sylvie is following in her father’s footsteps as a competitive surfboat rower.

MARK MITCHELLWORKING FOR RODNEY

Authorised by Mark Mitchell Tamariki House, 7 Tamariki Ave, Orewa

[email protected] • www.markmitchell.co.nz • 09 426 6215 facebook.com/markmitchellmp • @MarkMitchellMP

Falling unemployment and a strengthening economy mean more jobs for Rodney people.

Puhoi to Wellsford project construction to begin 2016.

Installation of new school traffi c signals, electronic warning signs, and over $7m of new funding.

New marine reserve at Tawharanui contributing to a record number and area of new reserves.

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Page 6: Election 2014 feature

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Tracey Martin New Zealand First List MPI bring a fresh, energetic, practical approach to issues of importance that impact on you.

New Zealand First MPs

Rt Hon Winston Peters

Richard Prosser

Barbara Stewart

Brendan Horan

Tracey Martin

Denis O’Rourke

Andrew Williams

Asenati Lole-Taylor

New Zealand First Spokesperson for:Communications & IT | Education | Research, Science & TechnologyWomen’s Affairs | Youth AffairsSelect Committee: Education and Science

Tracey Martin MP

Auckland Office:157A Kitchener Road, PO Box 31-119, Milford AucklandP 09 489 8336 | [email protected]

Parliament Office:Freepost, Private Bag 18 888, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6011P 04 817 8361 | [email protected] twitter.com/traceymartinmp | facebook.com/ tracey.martin.16144 nzfirst.org.nz

Martin A4 flyer.indd 128/09/12 11:52 AM

Tracey MartinDeputy LeaderNew Zealand First List MPI am holding clinics in Helensville, Warkworth, Wellsford, Whangaparaoa and Orewa.Talk to TraceyFor an appointmentP: 021 1330 444 E: [email protected]

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Authorised By Tracey Martin, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

14 Hibiscus Matters 3 September 2014 voteRodney

GENERAL ELEctioN september 20

Tracey Martin New Zealand First Party

Tracey Martin is deputy leader of New Zealand First and has been a list member of Parliament for the last three years. She has served as a member of the Education and Science Select Committee as well as working on specific bills at the Social Services Select Committee and the Justice and Electoral Select Committee.Tracey spent the majority of her pre-parliament time on parent-based fundraising and volunteer committees for Mahurangi Kindergarten, Warkworth Primary School and Mahurangi College. Elected onto the Warkworth School Board of Trustees in 2004 she resigned in 2011 due to the introduction of National Standards. In 2007 she was elected to the Mahurangi College Board which she has chaired since 2009. Tracey says this experience enabled her to bring commonsense to education discussions in Parliament. Tracey was also an elected member of the inaugural Rodney Locndal Board from 2010 to 2012.Passionate about youth employment, Tracey and her staff have worked with local businesses, schools, industry training organisations and government departments to create the Business Linked Internship Scheme. Connectivity to greater Auckland, access to day surgery at the local surgical unit, recent developments around homelessness and a member of the Warkworth Town Hall Restoration Trust are a few of the other local issues Tracey has focused on.

NZ First deputy leader Tracey Martin says poverty and inequity are the biggest issues facing New Zealand.As the party’s education spokesperson, Tracey believes greater investment in education is vital to lifting the living standards of New Zealand. There needs to be greater investment to make education freely available to everyone, she says.Tracey has been meeting with representatives from every level of the education system and says a lack of funding is a recurring concern.“All of these organisations are hurting under National.” Many playcentres are about to collapse because of funding cuts, and the government has effectively privatised kindergartens, she says.“We need to fund them to a level where they will survive.”There also needs to be more done to assist the employment and training opportunities for youth in areas disconnected from main centres, like Warkworth, she says.It is NZ First policy to introduce universal student allowances and a bonding system to incentivise students to stay in the country after they graduate.“We need youth employment without debt.”To alleviate poverty, New Zealand First would remove GST from food, immediately reducing the costs faced by all New Zealanders.Tracey believes WINZ should play a greater role to ensure beneficiaries have a basic standard of living with greater coordination with social agencies to assist low income earners.“I’ve been working with three homeless people in Warkworth. Beneficiaries should be asked whether they have a home to live in, and if not, then there

should be a coordinated effort to get them housed.”To help pay for some of these initiatives, New Zealand First would look at raising the top tax rate to nearer 38 per cent.“I don’t think high income earners are paying their fair share, and I’m in that tax bracket.”One of the biggest challenges facing Rodney is coping with a rapidly growing population. More needs to be done to boost infrastructure. The government’s policy to reduce development contributions is moving in the wrong direction, lumping infrastructure costs on existing ratepayers.There should also be stronger restrictions on the sale of all property to non-New Zealanders, she says.“But there’s nothing wrong with immigration, as long as it doesn’t work to create a low wage economy and make it more difficult for New Zealand citizens to find work.”Tracey is supportive of the Penlink project, but says her constituents haven’t raised the issue.The achievement she is most proud of during her first term was getting unanimous support for a members bill to enable grandparents and other family members caring for children to access the same clothing allowance as foster parents. The bill will likely go to its second reading the next time Parliament sits.The biggest frustration has been watching backbench MPs tow the party line and not follow their conscience on issues such as charter schools.Tracey believes climate change is an issue which needs to be addressed, but there needs to be cross party support to set targets to reduce carbon emissions.

Policies that Protect New Zealand’s FuturePolicies that Protect New Zealand’s Future

‘It’s common sense’

Party VoteNew Zealand First

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Page 7: Election 2014 feature

15 3 September 2014 Hibiscus Matters voteRodney

GENERAL ELEctioN september 20

Beth Houlbrooke ACT PartyRodney Local Board member, Beth Houlbrooke, who has recently risen to number four on the ACT Party list, says increasing economic growth is the way to solve most of the issues facing Rodney.She believes reducing tax and government spending, and removing regulations on the free market would allow businesses to thrive.Rodney is lucky with relatively low unemployment, but most young people leave the area in search of work, she says.ACT policies, such as dropping the company tax rate, from 28 per cent to 12.5 per cent by 2020, would immediately improve business bottom lines, enabling them to employ more staff and pay higher wages.“It’s the one policy which would have the greatest positive impact on New Zealand.”Housing affordability is another big issue for Rodney. Beth believes there is an artificial restriction on land supply, partly due to the Resource Management Act (RMA), which has been inflating house prices. The RMA is slowing down the development of land and pushes up the costs faced by developers, she says.“ACT would throw out the RMA and start again. It’s not enough to keep tweaking it.”ACT doesn’t believe placing restrictions on foreigners buying land or businesses is beneficial to New Zealand.“We are the pro-immigration, pro-foreign investment party. Foreign investors who purchase our farms and businesses are employing New Zealanders and paying taxes. The profits may go off shore, but we retain the investment.”But Beth is supportive of infrastructure projects such as Penlink.Water quality issues have been making the headlines

over the past year, but she believes the country is on the right track.“I think dairy farmers have been getting a bad wrap. We don’t have a dirty dairy industry. Most farmers want to work in a clean manner and we trust them to do that. If we impose fines and fees on dairy farmers, then the industry will become less competitive and we will lose business to countries that can produce milk at a lower cost.”Beth also believes the government should scrap the Emissions Trading Scheme. She believes it’s not the government’s role to reduce greenhouse emissions.“The consequences of climate change are not immediate enough or certain enough and New Zealand’s emissions are insignificant, internationally. Putting a tax on emissions will end up harming everyone, particularly those on low incomes.”Inequality has also been a much-debated issue since the last election, but Beth doesn’t see it as an issue. “We are concerned about those who are struggling, but to focus on the income gap is what we call ‘the politics of envy’. You don’t make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. If you take away peoples incentives to do better, then everyone will stop striving. The focus needs to be on addressing depravation by increasing economic growth.”ACT needs to win about 3.5 per cent of the vote to secure Beth a seat in Parliament.It is the second time she has stood as a candidate for Rodney, but she wants to be clear she is campaigning for the party vote, not the electorate vote.

Beth Houlbrooke is the ACT Party’s Rodney candidate, an elected member of the Rodney Local Board, and vice president of ACT. She has lived in the Warkworth area for 20 years. She is well known in the community as a Local Board member and, previously, as coordinator of a businesswomen’s network, chairperson of the Kaipara Flats School Board of Trustees, and Mahurangi Kindergarten president. She has two adult sons who were educated at Mahurangi College. Her younger son Louis is the current national president of ACT on Campus. Beth has been a successful entrepreneur with an award-winning business in the transport industry. She was a buisiness owner and farmer for many years, and she says she has first-hand experience of how ‘green’ tape is hindering productivity. She is determined to see significant regulatory reform, and to push for lower, flatter taxes to encourage investment, growth and jobs. Beth says ACT’s values are her values and the values on which she raised her highly aspirant children. “The purpose of Government is to protect our rights, not absolve our responsibilities. The state should not do for us what we can do for ourselves,” Beth says.

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz

Vote your values!

PARTY VOTE

ACT for:Lower fl atter taxes

Three strikes for burglary

Cutting GREEN tape

One country, one law

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz

When: Thursday 4th September

Time: 7.30pm

Where: Warkworth Masonic Hall,

3 Baxter St, Warkworth

Info: Ph 0272492875

Presenting ACT Party Policy

HEAR ACT LEADER DR JAMIE WHYTE

Promoted by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton

www.act.org.nz