Election 2023: Wine, cheese and the cost of living aired in candidates talanoa

A lively on-air discussion was had by candidates running in the Maungakiekie electorate on 531pi's Pacific Days.

The election talanoa touched on a range of topics including housing, crime, connecting with Pacific communities and there was even dig at those who have too much “wine and cheese and caviar”.

The live-streamed zoom call included Labour’s Priyanca Radhakrishnan, National’s Greg Fleming, Sapna Samant for the Green Party and Rock The Vote NZ’s Eric Chuah - which comes under the Freedoms NZ umbrella.

Host for the event was longtime broadcaster Ma’a Brian Sagala, who began by asking guests to give an opening address.

Chuah described his party as a centrist, grass-roots party for all New Zealanders with a big focus on treating everyone the same under one rule of law. And he returned to this theme of wanting to see Pacific people in particular treated as equals in society, as opposed to being “patronised” which he believes is what has had happened under Labour.

Among his many policy positions, he proposed establishing 50 police SWAT teams to cut down on gang crime, and also to increase trade with overseas nations to improve our economy.

In his final pitch to voters, Chuah promised to be someone who will be Maungakiekie’s “man on the ground” advocating for locals at every level of society.

“We will make NZ great again,” he said, adding that it will be done in a humble, ground-up way, unlike those who eat “wine and cheese and caviar”.

The Greens’ Sapna Samant took a different approach, telling voters she was primarily interested in their party vote, reiterating that a larger Green caucus can put pressure on the next government to introduce policies to eradicate poverty, preserve the oceans and make all dental care free.

“With our policies we want to ensure every New Zealander can live a life of dignity,” she said, before reminding Pacific voters that it was the Greens who, “pushed for the amnesty for overstayers”.

“The more Green MPs we have, the more we can push for what the Pacific community want."

While this might be Greg Fleming’s first campaign running for Maungakiekie, he is well-known in political circles as the founder and former chief executive of public policy think tank Maxim Institute and has lived in the area for the past 25 years.

The father of five highlighted the cost of living and the rise in crime as policy areas he would prioritise - as well as pointing out that as a first-term MP he will be able to give the community his full attention.

“I’ll almost certainly be a backbencher, so the requirements on me will be fairly minimal … so I'll be in churches, schools and businesses - I’ll be everywhere.”

In the 2020 election, Radhakrishnan had to wait almost a week for all ballot papers to be counted before she was confirmed as the MP, winning by 635 votes over Denise Lee.

And this term she has held the Cabinet portfolios of Minister for Community and Voluntary Sector, Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, Minister for Youth and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment which gave her the historic distinction of being New Zealand's first minister of Indian origin.

During this talanoa she highlighted the 700 new houses Labour has promised to build in Maungakiekie, as well as pointing out the different measures her government has introduced to ease cost of living pressures, like the winter energy payment and the increase to the minimum wage.

And in her final pitch she asked voters to consider that: “We’ve continued to lift wages for those on low to middle incomes ... we’ve delivered 13,000 public homes, ... we’ve reduced emissions three years running ... and we’ve committed to an amnesty for overstayers which our Pacific communities have been asking for."

Adding that, "this election there is a clear choice between Labour and progress and National and their coalition of cuts and chaos".