Candidates explain policies
As the Auckland Council local elections draw nearer, the candidates are doing all they can to get the approval of voters.
Six Auckland mayoral candidates attended a public meeting at Pakuranga Bowling Club last Friday, hosted by the Grey Power Howick Pakuranga Association.
The candidates were Mark Thomas, Penny Bright, Phil Goff, David Hay, Vic Crone and John Palino.
Thomas, deputy-chair of the Orakei Local Board, was first up to say what he will bring to the table if elected.
He went on to explain how his business experience would aid Auckland in becoming a successful city.
‘‘Auckland Council needs a lot more of the business experience [that I have]. But it’s only if people understand Auckland Council because we’ve had business people helping us with this city.’’
Thomas has been in business for just over 20 years and says he plans on rewriting the Unitary Plan to focus ratepayer money on more important issues such as transport.
Bright does not believe the ‘‘infestation of private sector business people in the public service’’ is a good idea.
‘‘For the last 16 years, I’ve chosen to work on a self-funded basis. Nobody pays me. That’s the public service model,’’ she says.
Goff says he’s ‘‘a proud Aucklander’’. ’’Auckland is a great city, that’s why we live here. Our problem is that everybody wants to live here.
‘‘We’re growing by 800 people a week. Our infrastructure simply isn’t catching up with that.’’
Hay aims to reduce Auckland’s carbon emissions to zero by 2060.
‘‘What I want to do is to raise the profile of the carbon action plan and to reframe our decision making and our land use planning,’’ he says.
Crone wants to bring business thinking into the running of the council.
‘‘We need to look at bringing public-private partnerships into our city to fund growth.
‘‘That’s what the big cities like Sydney and Melbourne do, to bring forward the economic benefits of that,’’ she says.
Palino believes the Unitary Plan needs an overhaul.
‘‘Auckland’s growth plan is what’s causing every single problem we have today. Unfortunately it’s not a plan. It’s a zoning map.’’