Allan Cawood, ONE Party
Tauranga Candidates Debate 2022 Questions
Date: Monday May 24, 2022
Section A: COST OF LIVING
Background:
This week at Countdown a kilo of Mainland cheese, a New Zealand dairy product, sits at about $18, which is the same as an hour of minimum wage after tax, petrol topped $3 even after the fuel taxes discount, and households are struggling with the cost of living in New Zealand.
Question: What will you or your party do to address what many are calling a cost of living crisis in NZ?
Answer:
Yes, there is a cost of living crisis in New Zealand. I am concerned with the large number of families and individuals struggling to pay their bills, with the price of essentials increasing as much as they have.
The ONE Party will remove GST from food and fuel. Increasing the purchasing capacity of those most in need will help in the short term. This will not increase the volume of money (which would further fuel inflation). It simply removes a tax which will help the back pockets of those most in need. When in government, ONE Party will stop frivolous spending and also pledge to audit every department to ensure efficiency. Cost cutting measures will be taken to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent well.
We will invest in the economy in ways which will increase productivity: for example, opening the borders, allowing cruise ships back into Tauranga's port, showcasing Tauranga and the rest of our country overseas to encourage tourism. We will also promote NZ made products on the international stage and support our local manufacturers to name a few examples. Over time, this productivity: the creation of goods and activity in services, will balance with the inflationary pressure of all the extra money that has been pumped out.
As a permanent Tauranga resident, I was shocked at the price of housing when my family and I first moved here. Seeing the price of homes and rent increase as much as they have, especially in the last 12-24 months, has been extremely concerning. Those with large mortgages in Tauranga will be struggling with the increased Official Cash Rate set by the Reserve Bank which has pushed up interest rates. This in turn pushes up rents. This has been a response to inflationary pressure but it is a double edged sword: increased mortgage repayments are most painful when there is also a cost of living crisis. Rising interest rates can also exacerbate inflation in the sense that it puts pressure on businesses. Those businesses under pressure are the ones that provide employment and provide the productivity that the economy is needing.
I, along with ONE Party, will support local markets and local businesses here in Tauranga and encourage business confidence by not introducing lockdowns and uncertainty, so that businesses have faith in their future ability to trade.
Section B: INFRASTRUCTURE COST
Background:
The Port of Tauranga manages the largest exports by volume nationally and has applied for the building of a third terminal.
Yet ingress and egress to and from the Port is heavily over taxed with critical roading infrastructure lacking and congestion at a crisis point.
Question 1:
How can Tauranga continue to effectively function when our roading infrastructure is not keeping pace with the demand of the city's growth, what will you do to ensure Tauranga gets a transport infrastructure that is fit for purpose? And who is going to pay for it.
Answer:
We need to think outside the status quo with regards to transportation. ONE Party is a party of solutions, so rather than just increasing the current roading infrastructure and causing further delays for commuters (like we are seeing on Cameron Road at present), let's consider other options. For example, investigating the feasibility of hiring the Tunnel Boring Machine from the Auckland City Rail Link project, before they send it back to the German manufacturers. Or Tauranga could purchase its own, and build a series of tunnels for both roading and rail under Tauranga to remove some of the congestion on our roads - all subject to engineering assessments. I am able to harness my prior work history in project management to ensure these projects are prioritised correctly and successfully completed in a timely manner.
Another short-term solution would be to fully utilise the rail network, linking other major cities to Tauranga. This will require the purchase of additional locomotives and track updates.
ONE Party, being a party of solutions, will investigate accessing funds held by ACC ($50b, as at 2021) and KiwiSaver ($81b, as at 2021), and encourage further local infrastructure investment, and provide competitive returns.
Government funding of infrastructure on state highways and arterials should be a priority if it will be increasing the nation’s productivity. For the Tauranga port to contribute to the economy fully, funding from NZTA should be a priority for Tauranga.
Question 2:
Yesterday the petition against the closure of Links ave was presented to Council where its reported that the Commissioner stormed out of the meeting, some of you were there what's your version of events?
Question 3:
Does anyone have an alternative plan?
Answer:
I was not present at this meeting, however I, and the ONE Party, being a party of solutions, propose to investigate the feasibility of a tunnel proposal, as mentioned before, to relieve stress on the roading infrastructure. We also need to investigate the use of light passenger rail to bring Tauranga up to international standards for public transport. A short to medium term solution would be to create parking hubs in different strategic locations, and use a park and bus concept to shuttle workers to the various key locations.
Section C: HOUSING
Background::
Coupled with the critical issue of roading congestion is a housing crisis. A Smart Growth spatial plan was soundly rejected in a previous consultation process, as it called for more sprawl up the Kaimai Range and along the Papamoa coast, with no citywide rapid transit system planned for the next decade or more.
Question 1: How can we move forward with a plan that matches infrastructural developments and growth together, should growth pay for growth, many are suggesting that the current rate of expansion is undesirable?
Question 2:
What is the answer to the exorbitant cost of building products and their current scarcity?
Answer:
The ONE Party will, as a priority, plan a short-term park and bus to strategic locations and a medium-long term due diligence and plan for investment into light rail and tunnels. Investment into Tauranga has been lacking under the current and previous governments, and councils, and we are now in catch up mode. Tunnels for rail and roading would likely be the least disruptive form of infrastructure development, so would be the best option for Tauranga. Other examples of this include Sydney, New York and London.
The answer to addressing the current scarcity of building products and reducing their cost is already being used in other parts of New Zealand. For example, The Wai Ora Christian Community Trust is building houses using Structural Insulated Panels, creating Te Kakano Homes. The homes are built with these panels, including the roofing, reducing construction time and costs. They are extremely strong and durable, and exceed the NZ Healthy Homes standard. The panels are created from recyclable materials.
In addition, I will review the building industry. Where necessary, I will consider investigating and researching the use of alternative materials that may be suited to our environment, reducing our heavy reliance on the shipping of timber overseas to be milled for use back here in New Zealand.
There are many sustainable and more economic options for building warm and dry homes, we just need to be more open minded with their construction.
Question 3:
Background:
Back to Housing locally and we have the glaring examples in the United States and England where low cost high rise apartments turned into slums, drug dens and areas of violence so extreme that even police don't go into them.
Question:
With plan change 26 of high intensification in certain areas and no accompanying plans for parking or amenities, how do you feel about them being built here in our beautiful city?
Answer:
ONE Party encourages innovative solutions to issues. Housing shortages are a big issue that Tauranga and New Zealand are experiencing. With the right supervision, maintenance and support services, this type of high intensification building plan can work. However, this should be housing solutions within CBD areas, not suburban areas.
Cramming people together, as is outlined in the United Nations Agenda 2030, is something ONE Party does not support. Agenda 2030, might be good for cheap accommodation, surveillance and preventing urban spread, but it creates more problems than it solves.
Areas where housing intensification is beneficial, such as the CBD, need to be planned and managed well. It comes down to building a culture within the complex that encourages support of each other, respect and care. An option could be having a rent-to-buy agreement with residents, giving them ownership over their apartment, which increases their sense of security and belonging. This would be more of a covenant or body corporate if it were an ownership model.
There should be stipulations on basement parking being built into the plans of these buildings, to remove the cars from the streets, causing congestion and additional parking concerns. Rooftop gardens should also be considered in the plans, to create green spaces for growing food, picnic/outdoor living areas and building community spirit within the apartment complex.
Section D: THREE WATERS
Background:
It is on record that Tauranga City has historically invested significantly in water infrastructure including micro-filtration. By the Three Waters Proposal's own analysis it was assessed as being one top cities in terms of being prepared for as yet unknown changes to water regulation. Given our growth most of our water infrastructures are relatively new, meaning a likely hood that this city will be subsidizing smaller, older and poorly managed systems elsewhere.
Question:
Where could there be any advantage to the people of Tauranga to merging more than $1B of well-invested assets into the proposed three waters proposal?
Answer:
Three Waters is about control not water quality and management. While it is clear that quality drinking water and the safe and efficient handling of waste water is important, the proposed Three Waters legislation amounts to unnecessary government control of assets already owned and paid for by Tauranga ratepayers. By merging into a larger entity for water management, we once again risk being neglected for infrastructure.
Because Tauranga has done such a good job with our water asset management, ONE Party will offer other towns and cities some assistance, in the form of advisors and consultants, to bring their water management up to standard.
The government is suggesting that big government agencies are better at managing assets than smaller local entities. History has shown that larger entities have more cracks in bureaucracy for local issues to be neglected.
Three Waters is a disaster waiting to happen and ONE Party aligns with the call to scrap the Three Waters Legislation.
Section F: DEMOCRACY
Background:
Now this is huge for the people of Tauranga, In 2019 Minister Mahuta installed a commission with the responsibility to prepare the city for a return to democratic elections in 2022, despite the Commissioner's failure to manage that Minister Mahuta, ironically extended their term for another two years.
The Commission with a suggestion of little genuine consultation with Ratepayers are embarking on a number of significant expenses for the City:
· Today the Commission announced $2000 in new additional costs for every man, woman and child in Tauranga for a Civic Renewal with no measurable outcomes. It is forcing through the construction of a museum that was formally rejected in a democratic referendum.
· Proposal of a new Stadium in the CBD
· Significant changes to the Racecourse proposed.
· Has recently sold off housing assets at well below market value.
· And in recent consultation; it refused to reject the Three Waters proposal as explicitly advocated in the local consultation process.
· The commission is unaccountable to the residents at any level
Question 1:
What is your opinion and what would you do about it?
Question 2:
What will you do to help bring democratic elections back to Tauranga?
Answer:
Tauranga and New Zealand are already facing large levels of generational debt, high inflation and cost of living crisis. Spending funds the way both government and council are, is unacceptable, especially with no measurable outcomes. ONE Party will be conducting audits of every entity that receives taxpayer and ratepayer funding to ensure that the funds are spent efficiently.
The government and commissioners have rejected the referendum put to the ratepayers for the museum, showing their blatant disregard for the residents of Tauranga. Yes, it would be nice to have a location to honour and learn from the past, however, this current economic climate, we should be focusing on projects to combat the current issues residents are facing, not throwing borrowed money at vanity projects.
In addition, ONE Party has one of its main priorities to get the NZ Bill of Rights entrenched into law and make Citizens Initiated Referenda binding. Bringing the power back to the people of Tauranga and New Zealand.
Section G: CRIME:
Background:
Commentators report that this Government is soft on crime, that they are giving Gangs millions of Dollars to repair the very damage they created. The BOP district has the highest concentration of Gang members nationally; Gang intimidation and youth crime is rife in Tauranga at present, many locals are scared to use the buses, and some drivers won't stop when they see groups of youths hanging round bus stops. There has even been the suggestion of cages around drivers, and recently we've had 2 reported smash and grab raids at the Bayfair shopping centre.
Question:
What do we do to curb this new, seemingly ‘fearless' behaviour in some people and are police and authorities capable of providing the solutions we need?
Answer:
For the immediate future, we will employ more police to protect the residents of Tauranga. But this is addressing the symptom not the cause. There are a number of youth initiatives in Tauranga at present which are producing excellent results, which we need to learn from and replicate.
ONE Party will also introduce its Defence Policy where all 18 year olds, and possibly older, will be called to attend a 12 month military training programme. This is not necessarily combat training, but an opportunity for a range of life-long skills to be learned.
I have military experience having served in the South African Airforce for 4 years. Many of the new recruits that came into the military were “rough diamonds” and most of them that left after completing their military training were changed people.
Section H: SUSTAINABILITY:
Background:
Tauranga with its port is a major economic hub of agriculture, horticulture and forestry for New Zealand. At the same many voters, especially younger voters are concerned about sustainability.
Question:
What does Tauranga need to do to build on its current economic base AND build for a more sustainable future at the same time? How do we ensure this includes small and medium businesses?
Answer:
ONE Party and I are in full support of sustainable management of our natural resources. We also know that we require horticulture and agriculture to produce food to feed our city, country and export to other parts of the world.
The majority of our farmers are doing well, they respect the land and farm accordingly, so that they are able to remain sustainable for future generations. There are a minority of farmers that do not take the responsibility of owning land as seriously, and these are the ones that we need to target to bring up to standard.
ONE Party will create and fund hands-on training schemes to teach the budding farmers regenerative agriculture: a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services, by capturing carbon in soil and above ground biomass.
I, along with ONE Party, will support local markets and local businesses here in Tauranga and encourage business confidence by not introducing lockdowns and uncertainty, so that businesses have faith in their future ability to trade.
We will invest in the economy in ways which will increase productivity: for example, opening the borders, allowing cruise ships back into Tauranga's port, showcasing Tauranga and the rest of our country overseas to encourage tourism. We will also promote NZ made products on the international stage and support our local manufacturers to name a few examples. Over time, this productivity: the creation of goods and activity in services, will balance with the inflationary pressure of all the extra money that has been pumped out.
SECTION I: EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITY
Background
A major concern for parents, not just in Tauranga but across NZ, Our children are saddled with student debt some over 100, 000 dollars of it making it virtually impossible to borrow to buy a house. The government love affair with Australian owned banks continues and house ownership becomes further and further out of reach for our highly educated young people.
Question:
What's your answer to that?
Answer:
Young people face a perfect storm of student debt, high house prices, high interest rates and inflation.
The biggest concern is the cost of housing, with Tauranga being the 8th most expensive housing market in the world in 2019, when comparing house prices to income. The housing prices have increased again since these findings were published.
It is not the bank’s fault for lending money for housing and making massive profits out of it. They’re a business like any other and aim to maximise profits.
The government should be regulating banks to only lend a certain percentage for housing, with the rest going to business and enterprise which increase productivity. ONE Party will investigate the potential of the Reserve Bank of NZ being involved in lending directly to first time homeowners at special interest rates.
Fuelling the house price crisis is of course the supply and demand issue. Nine years of immigration from the last government, bringing in 500,000 new people with no corresponding investment in infrastructure was always going to be a problem. The current government has not managed to address this problem.
The housing shortage needs to be managed with a massive restructure, or even scrapping, of the Resource Management Act.
Kiwis deserve a backyard and space. With properly controlled immigration, an infrastructure plan and careful use of land, kiwis can continue to enjoy the good old kiwi dream - home ownership on a quarter of an acre that doesn’t break the bank.
When students come to study, they should be well subsidised for studying in areas that are in demand and underpaid, such as nursing, health, midwifery, teaching and many others. This would help ensure we are filling gaps where we have skill shortages.
ONE Party will implement a strategy on how we can support students going through skill shortage courses and help to reduce their debt burden.
Immigration does play a part with higher education, with students completing a Level 7 or above qualification receiving work visas after their studies have been completed, which puts them on the path for residency and citizenship. International students pay 3-5 times more than domestic students for the same education, which subsidises domestic students' fees. Without the international students, we have seen many redundancies at universities, courses not being offered and strain being placed on the remaining staff to provide the required services. For this reason, we should continue to welcome international students.
SECTION J: MEDIA
Background:
There are suggestions that NZ media does not always address the big issues or possibly takes a restrained view on some topics, possibly as a consequence of significant government funding.
Question:
Do you think that New Zealand media is generally fair and balanced?
Answer:
As with any business, media should be self-reliant, not reliant on the government for funding.
I do not think the media is always fair and balanced at all. The experience over the last two years has shown that any person, event, or information that challenges the dominant narrative (government narrative) has been derided in the press without any discussion of these opponents' reasoning or messages.
This is not fair and balanced. Our fourth estate has become a mouthpiece for the government and the status quo which naturally has led so many people to seek alternative information from alternative media.
SECTION K: YOUR POSITION:
Having covered topics that we know are on residents' minds let me turn to each of you.
Question:
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Tauranga in 2022 and the coming years… and how you would plan to address it?
Answer:
The biggest issue is the lack of infrastructure. I’ve been living in Tauranga for over 12 months and have attended a few of the Tauranga Council meetings.
Based on what I’ve seen and heard there is no clear council plan for decades beyond the 2021-2031 Council “long-term” plan.
As co-leader of the ONE Party I will establish a panel of citizens in each region and give them some basic parameters and a proposed budget to work within. Local knowledge is more valuable than being dictated to by a group sitting in Wellington. Tauranga is unique and has unique challenges that we face, compared to other cities. This panel, who would be partially remunerated, will be made up of people from different ages, cultures and walks of life who provide real innovative solutions for the problems they see happening within the next 25 to 30 years. They will be able to present to city and town planners to come up with a workable plan for the future.
Click on the SunLive links below to read Tauranga by-election candidate comments:
May 12, 2022 - Tauranga By-election: Candidates weigh-in on SH2
May 15, 2022 - Out and about with the candidates this weekend
May 19, 2022 – Candidates respond to ACT's “off with her head” comment
May 25, 2022 - Tauranga candidates discuss cost of living
Key dates for the Tauranga by-election:
Tuesday 17 May candidate nominations close at noon, by-election candidates announced 4pm
Wednesday 1 June overseas voting starts
Saturday 4 June advance voting starts
Saturday 18 June election day, voting closes at 7pm. Preliminary results will be announced later that night.
