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?
    My name is Tane, and I was born and bred in the Hutt. I want a New Zea­l­and that is fair, com­fort­able and vibrant, liv­ing with­in its envir­on­ment­al lim­its.
  2. You have 30 seconds to con­vince someone to come to Wel­ling­ton. What’s your pitch?
    I’ve got a spare tick­et to the Sev­ens.
  3. Where do you stand on the issue of open­ing up gov­ern­ment data?
    Pri­vacy needs to be pro­tec­ted, iden­tity theft pre­ven­ted and there are genu­ine secur­ity and com­mer­cial con­sid­er­a­tions. Oth­er­wise, open it up, trans­par­ency solves a lot of prob­lems.
  4. Describe your bicycle, or your favour­ite bus route?
    I’ve got a cheap moun­tain bike, totally unsuit­able for moun­tains. It’s also ter­rible for going up Ngaio Gorge to John­son­ville, but I per­sist because it burns lots of cal­or­ies.
  5. When did you last use the lib­rary, a com­munity centre, or a coun­cil-run sports facil­ity?
    About a month ago to the lib­rary, though I use their books every night when I read to my kids in bed.
  6. Would you wel­come a cent­ral gov­ern­ment driv­en “super-city” amal­gam­a­tion of loc­al author­it­ies?
    Not if it’s imposed. The cit­izens need to want it enough to do it them­selves, not have someone tell them what’s good for them.
  7. What city inspires your vis­ion for Wel­ling­ton? How?
    It could be Lon­don, Par­is, Ams­ter­dam or any of dozens of European cit­ies. Dense, low energy hous­ing, with lots of loc­al parks, amen­it­ies and shops, linked by excel­lent pub­lic trans­port.
  8. Is the concept of demo­crat­ic rep­res­ent­a­tion import­ant to you? How so?
    Hell yes! Rep­res­ent­at­ives give a focus for the people’s man­date, and make demo­cracy work­able, by turn­ing it from a mob of mil­lions, to a Par­lia­ment of 120.
  9. What achieve­ment for Wel­ling­ton are you most proud of?
    That I can catch the train to work. That’s an hour of read­ing I get to do every day. I’ll be prouder when the rail sys­tem is bet­ter.
  10. What role do you think cent­ral gov­ern­ment should play in loc­al roading/public trans­port issues?
    Primar­ily fund­ing (and more of it), and sec­ond­ar­ily of coordin­at­ing between coun­cils. They also need to stop impos­ing unne­ces­sary motor­ways on the pub­lic (Kapiti express­way, I’m look­ing at you!)
  11. How can we make Wel­ling­ton more envir­on­ment­ally friendly?
    Bet­ter town plan­ning. Dens­er hous­ing and no more green­fields sub­urb­an sprawl. Make everything as close and walk­able as pos­sible, with bet­ter pub­lic trans­port. It’s how the Europeans do it.
  12. What will you do to ensure diverse rep­res­ent­a­tion on gov­ern­ment issues?
    Retain MMP. It’s already doing a good job of increas­ing diversity in Par­lia­ment, and that trend is con­tinu­ing. Plus it’s a damn sight fairer than the oth­er sys­tems.
  13. What’s your per­son­al his­tory of liv­ing in Wel­ling­ton?
    Lived here 29 out of my 39 years. I’ve lived in Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Kapiti, Pori­rua and Wel­ling­ton City. We’re now rais­ing a fam­ily, so anoth­er 20 to come.
  14. What policy of your party do you think will have the most impact on Wel­ling­ton?
    $15 min­im­um wage (since bor­rowed by Labour). Most wages will also rise, put­ting money in the hands of those who spend it loc­ally, help­ing Wel­ling­ton busi­nesses in turn.
  15. Do you genu­inely believe you have a chance at win­ning the seat you’re con­test­ing, or is this more of a party cam­pa­gin?
    One day the Greens will stand a can­did­ate in Rimu­taka and con­test for the elect­or­ate vote. That’s not today, so we’re run­ning for the party vote (this time…).
  16. Bonus: Is there a need to com­bat region­al resources & fund­ing being siphoned away from Wel­ling­ton to Auck­land or Christ­ch­urch, and if so, how would you achieve that?
    Some­times we need to trust the gov­ern­ment. If funds go else­where, it should be because their need is great­er. If it’s going to the ‘Hol­i­day High­way’ though, vote accord­ingly!