Candidates get public grilling

31st October 2008

The awkward body language said it all as Tukituki political candidates sat shoulder to shoulder as Havelock North people fired their pre-election questions.

Some wanted to know what politicians were going to do about violent crime in Hawke's Bay or how they would deal with gangs and the drug "P".

One grandmother in the audience asked what the candidates thought about "children that are starving in New Zealand" after she went one day without food so her grandchildren could have her share to eat.

About 60 people came armed with their questions for the candidates inside the Havelock North Community Centre at a meeting organised by Hastings and Districts Grey Power Association yesterday.

There were set questions covering pensions, superannuation, health care waiting lists and electricity costs but the real test came when people raised their hands to speak one-on-one.

Kevin Rose, Hastings, wanted to know what the minor parties were going to do to make Hawke's Bay safer, pointing to drug markets and gangs.

Act's Duncan Lennox said the problem had to be dealt with by the community, not just politicians or the police, while the Green Party's Quentin Duthie wanted to reduce access to drugs.

Alliance's Thomas O'Neil agreed and said the community needed to take ownership of the problem as well.

Craig Foss' National party promised tougher penalties for criminal gang members but Labour's Rick Barker reminded people it was not always gangs selling drugs.

"The biggest P lab [in Hawke's Bay] was run by a high school teacher, not the gangs. This is not just a gang problem or a white problem, it passes across everyone," Mr Barker said.

Heads were turned earlier in the meeting when a grandmother asked what the candidates could do for families, such as her daughter's, which could not afford to put food on the table.

"There are 200,000 children living in poverty," Mr Duthie said, promising better help for struggling families.

"That's an absolute disgrace that anyone is going to starve in this country," Mr O'Neill said. "We have had some years of growth but the balance has not been put back in, the rich are still rich and the poor are still poor."