Election 2008 Dunedin North and Dunedin South candidates respond to your questions.
AS part of The Star 's Election '08 coverage we offered all candidates standing in the Dunedin South and Dunedin North electorates the opportunity to answer some written questions compiled by The Star readers and The Star and Otago Chamber of Commerce staff. Candidates' answers were limited to 100 words per question in this week's The Star and were edited where necessary. Their extended answers are shown here.
THE QUESTIONS
1. Rail What are the chances of restoring a commuter rail service between Mosgiel and Dunedin during the next electoral term, and what is your medium/long-term vision for commuter/passenger rail services through Dunedin and the South? (Brighton resident Lorraine Johnston)
2. Taxation Will your party repeal taxation on unearned capital gain on foreign income that is in Taxation (Business Taxation and Remedial Matters) Act 2007, section 11, Foreign Investment Fund Income. (John Horrocks, Mornington)
3. Crime How would you address the escalation in violent crime, including domestic violence, in this country? (Business and Professional Women's group Dunedin/The Star/Chamber of Commerce)
4. Power What energy policies would you champion and what would you do to help Dunedin in terms of its old, cold homes? (The Star/Chamber of Commerce)
5. Health What is your opinion of population-based funding and what changes, if any, would you make to the current health system? (The Star/Chamber of Commerce)
6. Stadium Do you support the proposed Awatea St stadium? (The Star/Chamber of Commerce)
THE ANSWERS
1. Rail
DSC support this absolutely tremendous idea 100%! We need to understand the cost of not re-establishing these vital community assets. The social cost of re-establishing this service would/ will be tremendous. The Northern districts and Mosgiel face the ever-increasing costs of getting to work, and yet their pay packets are not looking any fuller to compensate for their rising costs. Community projects such as these need to be nurtured and encouraged. DSC encourage strong community building projects such as these and the local people behind such initiatives should be highly commended.
2. Taxation
This question is outside my expertise, so like Dawn McIntosh, I asked our spokesperson for Finance, John Pemberton for his answer. His comments were: That in principal we do not think it is fair to pay tax on unrealised income. Our policy is to progressively phase out any existing Capital gains and
Wealth taxes as our Party's reforms return stability to the market place and the production system. This tax is a good example of how complicated and bureaucratic our taxation system is and provides a good example of why the concept of using our Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) should be supported by a small tax levied on withdrawals from bank accounts.
3. Crime
DSC believe systems need to be put in place to support people on a community level. By having healthy and happy communities we become more able to control crime. Bridging the gap between government organisations is a fundamental way of making sure people do not slip through these gaps and become statistics. It is important for young people to have a sense of worth in the community so they feel they can contribute in a positive way. By fostering a good moral and ethical base for our young people, we can help them transition into healthy, socially responsible adults who contribute in the community in a positive way. Building more prisons and hiring more medical staff to deal with victims and offenders is not the answer. We need to support and educate parents from the start, so they have the tools they need to encourage and support their children.
4. Power
Energy needs to continue to head in the sustainable direction. The Waitati energy project is a fine example of local people finding local solutions to energy issues. Old cold homes create cold sick people. Rental properties should meet a certain insulation standard, and landlords would be able to bring their properties up to this standard by taking out an interest-free "insulation'' loan from the Reserve Bank. No-one wants to live in a cold home, the only reason that people do is because they can't afford not to. People are so weighed down with debt, paying three or four times what their home is worth in interest over the course of a mortgage, they don't have money to do important things like make their homes energy efficient. If people only had to pay for their homes once, think of the savings.
5. Health
We are calling for drastic reductions in the costs of visiting GPs and getting prescriptions. The reductions in GP charges do not go far enough and DSC policy for nominal charges ($4 for a GP visit and $2 for prescriptions) would remove the cost barrier to visiting GPs promptly thereby preventing many health problems from worsening and costing more to be treated at a later stage. It is of further concern that some prescriptions still carry a high cost even when the patient has a community services card so that in some cases a patient will not get their medication even though it has been prescribed.
6. Stadium
The stadium the way that it is proposed at the moment will cripple Dunedin people financially. We supposedly live in a democratic society, yet the DCC seem to ignore the fact a large proportion of Dunedin ratepayers are opposed to funding this project. When you are elected into a position to represent people, that is what you should do. If you are not sure what people want - ask. Dunedin people are already finically down, let's not kick them.