Concerns over councillor and candidate security raised at hui
The spectre of violence in a more heated political climate has been raised at the Waikato Regional Council table, with one former prison officer turned councillor calling for wide circulation of information about potential risks.
Waihou constituency councillor Stu Husband’s call came during discussion on recent security warnings about the potential for violence against councillors and staff. It stemmed from a recent Department of Conservation 1080 operation on the Coromandel.
Husband understood the Thames-Coromandel councillor had been warned but wasn’t sure a candidate running against him had been.
He’s worried that in the current climate someone could get hurt.
‘‘There’s an undertone there that’s seriously dangerous,’’ he said.
Chief executive Chris McLay said he would be checking with the electoral officer what the council’s responsibilities were to inform all candidates of risks.
Speaking during a break, Husband wasn’t able to provide specifics about the threats but felt McLay’s response was ‘‘not good enough’’ and that Thames-Coromandel candidate Warren Maher should have been informed too.
‘‘Everyone should be privy to that same information,’’ he said, adding that as an ex-prison officer he was attuned to good risk management.
During the meeting, councillor Fred Lichtwark said there appeared to be a lot of unease in the community and he had come across this in Kāwhia recently.
‘‘There is a lot of aggression out there,’’ he said, without giving specifics.
‘‘We need to be protecting democracy a little bit better than we are now.’’
Councillor Jennifer Nickel said she had seen Stuff’s recent Fire and Fury documentary raising concerns about a range of issues to do with politics-related aggression and misinformation.
She felt it was worth considering giving new councillors an induction on risks and trends in these sorts of areas.