We invited all can­did­ates in Wel­ling­ton elect­or­ates to con­tact us with their answers to fif­teen crowd­sourced ques­tions. Answers are restric­ted to 30 words each, and we pub­lish them exactly as we receive them.

  1. Who are you and what do you want?
    I’m Steve, I grew up in Wel­ling­ton, and I want a New Zea­l­and that’s more pros­per­ous to ensure that young people stay here.
  2. You have 30 seconds to con­vince someone to come to Wel­ling­ton. What’s your pitch?
    Describe the fol­low­ing to them: Sweet Mother­’s Kit­chen; Hooch; the water­front; the view from the cable car; and Kaf­fee Eis on a sunny day in Ori­ent­al Bay.
  3. Where do you stand on the issue of open­ing up gov­ern­ment data?
    In favour.
  4. Describe your bicycle, or your favour­ite bus route
    I have a moun­tain bike, although it has been dis­used through the wintry months. I catch the Num­ber 1 to work most days; prob­ably not my favour­ite.
  5. When did you last use the lib­rary, a com­munity centre, or a coun­cil-run sports facil­ity?
    Often find myself in Turn­bull House, which offers cheap rates to com­munity groups, and is a great place to hold events.
  6. Would you wel­come a cent­ral gov­ern­ment driv­en “super-city” amal­gam­a­tion of loc­al author­it­ies?
    No.
  7. What city inspires your vis­ion for Wel­ling­ton? How?
    Should­n’t try to copy any oth­ers. Wel­ling­ton is great as it is. Cer­tainly don’t try to copy Hol­ly­wood!
  8. Is the concept of demo­crat­ic rep­res­ent­a­tion import­ant to you? How so?
    It’s vitally import­ant. Demo­crat­ic rep­res­ent­a­tion is an import­ant com­pon­ent of per­son­al free­dom. But we should not allow major­it­ies to take away our fun­da­ment­al rights.
  9. What achieve­ment for Wel­ling­ton are you most proud of?
    Being a fun place to live des­pite the pres­ence of politi­cians.
  10. What role do you think cent­ral gov­ern­ment should play in loc­al roading/public trans­port issues?
    A fund­ing role for pro­jects with sig­ni­fic­ant bene­fits, and ensur­ing that fund­ing for pro­jects meets cost bene­fit ana­lys­is.
  11. How can we make Wel­ling­ton more envir­on­ment­ally friendly?
    Water meter­ing; con­ges­tion pri­cing on some of our roads.
  12. What will you do to ensure diverse rep­res­ent­a­tion on gov­ern­ment issues?
    Vote for MMP.
  13. What’s your per­son­al his­tory of liv­ing in Wel­ling­ton?
    I was born and raised in Paparangi, in North Wel­ling­ton, and have lived more cent­rally since begin­ning Uni­ver­sity.
  14. What policy of your party do you think will have the most impact on Wel­ling­ton?
    School vouch­ers, which will ensure tax money fol­lows the child to the school of their par­ents’ choice. More par­ents – not just the wealthy – need access to integ­rated and private school­ing.
  15. Do you genu­inely believe you have a chance at win­ning the seat you’re con­test­ing, or is this more of a party cam­paign?
    I am seek­ing the party vote, and am num­ber sev­en on the ACT list. Party vote ACT!