Editor
I think that this was perhaps the first electoral meeting that really came alive. Congratulations to the people of Waikanae who attended in considerable numbers and to Grey Power for organising this meeting at the Senior Citizens Hall in Waikanae on Wednesday 22nd September.
For myself the highlight was to see the first crack in the secrecy that has hitherto surrounded electoral funding prior to our deadline for voting.
In this respect I believe that it is crucial to know the type of person giving financial support as this is a major indicator of where a candidate’s sympathies lie.
For the record 3 candidates responded. Ross Church has budgeted $5,000 of his own money to his campaign. Chris Turver has budgeted $10,000 to his own campaign and also has the support of Mr Olsen and Mr Pritchard for the advertising of the One Kāpiti group. No information was given as to the amount and one must wonder whether this avoids the $30,000 cap that is legally permitted to be spent under the Local Government Act. Jenny Rowan said that she budgeted for about $25,000 of which half came from her own funds and half from “friends”.
The above is a major breakthrough of information as three years ago both Mr Turver and Ms Rowan claimed to be unable to answer such a question claiming some version of the “chinese wall” type. I believe that this still does not go far enough and that candidates should be required to give a complete account of funding as a condidion of their nomination.
Brian Baggott
Paraparaumu Beach
