Former Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere - Photo / File
Newly nominated TOP candidate Tuariki Delamere says that the current situation in Auckland is a disaster, caused by the forced amalgamation of local bodies.
And he says his mate Phil Goff isn't fixing it.
But Delamere says Goff is not to blame.
“He’s inherited that legislative disaster that was imposed on us by Rodney Hyde.”
Delamere wants to use his Auckland Central candidacy to speak to these local issues. Transport, rates and the structure of Auckland Council will remain his top agenda.
Tuariki Delamere replaces former TOP candidate Joshua Love, who is now running as an independent.
Joshua Love in Auckland's CBD - Photo / Provided
Joshua Love says that since the Auckland super city came, council debt has ballooned. He is basing his candidacy on representation, something he says that MPs struggle to get right.
“I don’t care if these people are crazy,” Joshua Love says.
“You answer your constituents’ phone calls and emails every time and reply every time.
“It’s your job.”
He says he has helped people behind the scenes after they have been ignored by their local MPs.
“Just so funny how quickly they reply to ‘little ol white boy’ with the Facebook page,” Love says.
Both candidates want cannabis legalised. Love was initially hesitant to make this a non-negotiable as he did not want to make a promise he couldn’t keep.
Now, he feels it’s almost inevitable that cannabis will be legal so he’s happy to draw his line in the sand.
Labour candidate Helen White says she has seen the negative impact of national cannabis laws on blue-collar workers.
"It’s really something that punishes poorer people," White says.
"They get criminalised while their bosses who drink alcohol don’t."
It's her stance that cannabis should be treated the same as alcohol. The law should deal with it from a health perspective.
White has worked with unions such as the EPMU (Engineering, Printing and Manufacturering Union, now E Tū), advocating for workers rights. She argues drug testing is a violation of people's privacy.
"This has been a concern of mine, for a very long time," she says.
Helen White - Photo / Provided
The Labour candidate believes criminalisation of marijuana has created a stigma that stops reformed drug users from progressing in their careers. She told the story of a man who lost his job after his new employer learned of a 10-year-old conviction.
"The employer hurt a whole family when he lost his job," she says.
"So that's really one that sticks in my mind."
She is hesitant to cast stones at Auckland Council leadership but says that in these troubled times, civil servants should be taking pay cuts.
National is yet to field a candidate for Auckland Central. It is understood that a candidate will be announced in August. Green Party candidate Chloe Swarbrick has been asked for comment.
