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While some Kaikōura candidates have admitted “personal experience” with cannabis, only two will vote “yes” in next month’s referendum.
Some 110 people watched six candidates answer questions in a pre-election debate at Biddy Kate’s Irish bar in Blenheim on Tuesday night.
Bar owner and former Deputy Mayor Terry Sloan, who organized the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce event and the Marlborough Express, asked if the candidates supported legalizing the recreational “drug” and if they could “speak from experience.” , with laughter from the audience.
Green Party candidate Dr. Richard McCubbin and incumbent MP Stuart Smith, who are running again for the National Party, said they had personal experience with cannabis. McCubbin was a student at the time and thought it was “pretty nice.”
STUFF
The cannabis legalization and control bill proposes legalizing cannabis for personal use.
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Labor Party candidate Matt Flight, ACT candidate Richard Evans and NZ First candidate Jamie Arbuckle had not smoked marijuana, but they knew people who did. New Conservative candidate David Greenslade did not provide an answer.
Their admissions came 25 days before the country decides whether to support or reject the cannabis control and legislation bill, on October 17. New Zealanders would also vote in the end-of-life election referendum and general elections.
If New Zealanders voted in favor of the cannabis bill, the use, sale and purchase of cannabis for recreational use would be legalized for those over the age of 20, allowing them to buy up to 14 grams of dry cannabis (or its equivalent ) every day. authorized points of sale.
McCubbin and Flight said they would vote “yes” on the bill.
McCubbin said it would help bring cannabis “out of the shadows” and minimize its damage to communities.
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About 110 people attended the debate Tuesday night.
“As a doctor, alcohol is a much more harmful drug than cannabis. The hospital emergency department here is not full of people who have used too much drugs. They are full of people who have drunk too much alcohol and wrecked themselves, their friends, their family, or have long-term health problems, “McCubbin said.
Both Evans and Smith noted that the bill was a draft that “could look like anything” after it was introduced to Parliament.
Smith said the bill would not stop illegal cannabis suppliers from operating, and could even generate “a huge profit” for them, as they would not pay taxes and therefore could offer a product 15 percent cheaper than legal growers.
“I am in favor of decriminalization rather than legalization.”
Arbuckle said the bill went against the government’s long-term push to make New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.
“We have enough problems without adding cannabis.”
Greenslade said the New Conservative would vote “no” in the referendum as they were “totally against” the new bill.
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National Party candidate Stuart Smith is in favor of decriminalization, not legalization.
Should the speed limit on SH6 between Blenheim and Nelson be 80 km / h?
Arbuckle: “It should stay at 100km / h. That was the correct speed. … We need to invest in those problem areas, once [Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency] identifies them. “
Greenslade: “I think the speed limit is fine at the moment … If we can rectify the potholes and bumps in the road, but keep the speed limit the same, it will be a very safe road.”
Flight: “For me personally, yes, it should be 80 km / h the whole way for safety reasons. At the end of the day, an extra 2 minutes of driving won’t hurt you. “
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Jamie Arbuckle, New Zealand First Party candidate.
Evans: “We have spent a lot of money to be able to travel faster and safer around the curves of the highway. We’d be wasting it if we lowered the speed limit. “
Smith: “Definitely not. … National Party has announced that we will not lower the 100km / h speed limit, it will stay that way and we will build at least three overtaking lanes between Blenheim and Nelson. The money is there. “
McCubbin: “I can’t remember the last time I was on the road. I’m going to have to pass this one. However, my basic feeling is that as a doctor who deals with car accidents quite often, I know that speed kills and higher speeds kill even more effectively. My instinct would be to think that a speed limit of 80km / h is pretty sensible. “
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New Conservative Party candidate David Greenslade.
Should jobs be offered to skilled foreign workers?
Smith: “For me, immigration is about what is good for New Zealand. It’s about filling in the gaps that we can’t fill … It should always be the kiwis first … but we have to transition to that. “
McCubbin: “I accept that it is a difficult problem, because we have no idea when Covid-19 will allow us to allow you to get the skilled immigrants you want. I think it’s one thing to keep the immigrants who are still here working the harvest … by making sure their visas are extended. “
Evans: “CSR [Recognised Seasonal Employer] The scheme is a limited scheme. One of the things the ACT Party would like to introduce is that it is no longer capped, so we could enter [workers] as we need “.
Flight: “This is fresh off the press. The cabinet has made changes to the CSR scheme. We made changes and supplemented the seasonal employment visa with 11,000 more … We are not the only area in New Zealand looking for workers. Between Auckland and Southland, there are many farming communities that want the same number of people as we do, to do exactly the same kind of jobs. “
Greenslade: “New Zealanders should be the first to fill the position. When immigrants arrive, they should fill the vacancies. “
Arbuckle: “New Zealand First believes we have to find employment for the locals … At the end of the day, some people in this county need to start work or we don’t pay them the benefit. Another policy New Zealand First wants to propose is to link people to regions. “
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Matt Flight, Labor Party candidate.
How should climate change be addressed?
Smith: “I am the chair of the Global Legislation for a Better Environment, which is a multi-party parliamentary group and its purpose is to stop the yo-yo in terms of politics through election cycles … Personally, I think the Las Policies that we have proposed in this election, such as how we will expand electric vehicles that do not pay road user charges until 2023, have been a positive step. “
McCubbin: “It is not just the Party of the Greens, it is all of us, because we are all on the same path here … The Party of the Greens has many policies to try to address climate change. The most important thing we can do as a country is to use Covid-19 to turn towards a smart, green and low-carbon sustainable economy. We can’t go on with business as usual. It will be bad for the climate and the economy ”.
Evans: “We [the ACT Party] We think we have to keep up with the rest of the world and as an exporting nation we really have to have a plan to deal with carbon. “
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ACT Party candidate Richard Evans.
Flight: “I can tell you a couple of things that Labor has done. The Zero Carbon Law. We passed that. We reinstated emissions to the emissions trading scheme, to reward emissions reductions, and started planting 1 million trees by 2028 to capture carbon and clean waterways. “
Greenslade: “I think the first thing we have to do is get out of the Paris Agreement … We spend $ 1.4 billion a year on this carbon tax, and New Conservative would rather spend that money on pollution solutions.”
Arbuckle: “We have been investing in railways to get trucks off our roads … We have also been putting money into the defense portfolio, because whatever New Zealand does around climate change, it will be the defense force given the call in [climate] emergencies “.
Votes could be cast from October 3-17 at polling places in the region. See www.vote.nz.
