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An independent candidate was forced to watch from the sidelines as sparks flew at an election meeting in Canterbury on Monday.
Kaikōura-based independent candidate Ted Howard drove two hours south for the Kaikōura electorate meeting at Balcairn Hall, near Amberley, only to be declined the opportunity to speak.
Meeting MC Jeremy Finn said the organisers, Balcairn Public Hall Society, had only invited candidates from parties already in Parliament.
Sitting MPs Jamie Arbuckle (New Zealand First) and Stuart Smith (National), were joined onstage by Matt Flight (Labour) and Tom Spooner (Act).
Mr Howard said he was disappointed not to be allowed to speak, as it was the only election meeting in the southern end of an electorate, which stretches from the Marlborough Sounds to the Ashley Rakahuri River.
He said only allowing parties already in Parliament to speak “was a way of preventing change”.
“I find it something of a travesty to call it democracy. It was deeply disappointing.’’
But Mr Finn said the meeting organisers had the right to run the meeting how they wished.
Mr Finn said the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori were also invited to send candidates, even though they were not standing candidates in the electorate, with a Green Party candidate confirming attendance prior to the meeting.
But Green Party Te Tai Tonga Dr Lisa Te Morenga said the details about the event got lost as she attempted to navigate campaigning in the largest electorate.
“As you might imagine campaigning for an electorate as big as Te Tai Tonga involves a complicated travel itinerary involving many players.”
After campaigning in Wellington, she caught a 2am ferry on Tuesday morning, before campaigning in Christchurch and Dunedin this week to reach Te Tai Tonga voters, fundraising as she goes.
The Opportunity Party was not invited, despite its strong showing in recent opinion polls, Mr Finn said.
Also not invited were two other Kaikōura independent candidates Iain Britton and Oliver Hill-Hughes.
When the debate got under way, the four candidates were asked anything from local government reform to AI data centres.
All four candidates said local government reform was needed and expressed a commitment to “localism”.
Mr Arbuckle, a former Marlborough district councillor, said he was “a fan of unitary councils”, but felt the speed of reform was “too quick”.
But he believed the South Island would be “easier to negotiate” than the North Island.
Mr Smith said breaking up Environment Canterbury was necessary as too much power “rests in Christchurch”.
“There are massive differences between the flats in Kaikōura, the transport issues in Christchurch and then you have the Mackenzie country.”
Mr Spooner said councils were not entirely to blame, as successive Governments had passed too much on to them.
“They just need to focus on basic infrastructure.”
Mr Flight, who has also served as a Marlborough district councillor, said the reform process was “a bit of a calamity”.
“You can’t expect them to work like monkeys and then pull the pin.”
The candidates expressed mixed views on AI data centres.
Mr Smith said National’s policy was for data centres to supply their own electricity.
He noted most people were unaware “how much they are using AI”.
Mr Spooner questioned whether AI could really be regulated.
“It’s in everything, including large language models. We need to allow people to try new ideas.”
Mr Flight said at a recent public meeting young people had expressed concerns about what AI will mean for their futures.
“They want to have jobs in the future and when they were asked, they all answered ‘yes, I’m scared’.”
Mr Arbuckle noted AI was being used to write submissions on legislation and to process them.
“Whoever is in Government will need to have a policy around the energy of data centres. We need to understand the pros and cons.”
The next Kaikōura electorate candidates meeting will be held in the Upper Room on West End, Kaikōura, on Thursday (October 15) from 7.30pm.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
