Election Candidate Profile: Dick Ryan
Democrats for Social Credit
New Zealand should be an armed neutral state, the Switzerland of the south seas, says NZ Democrats for Social Credit candidate Dick Ryan.
It's a view he has held for a long time, and continues to be a main plank of his candidacy, which he is contesting in Tukituki this year for the second time.
The Dunedin-born son of a navy family, who spent 20 years with the Royal Navy before returning to New Zealand in 1975, he now resides in Havelock North and is in politics because he's "appalled" at the way things are going in this country.
Not only does the lack of a sensible defence position irk him as the party's defence spokesman, he's also unhappy with the wealth generating power of the banks and the country's stance on climate change.
"Banks create all the money - that's crazy - we are possibly the wealthiest country in the world per capita, the last thing we want to do is borrow others' money.
"The Government has to spend $16 million every day of our hard-earned tax money on paying interest on overseas loans - think what we could do with that money."
He's critical of the country's lack of commitment to the climate change accord, and believes that we should be organic in our agricultural production.
"In 1980, New Zealand could have easily been utopia - all we had wrong was the politicians.
"Now having had 30 years of a neo-liberal state we have really put the clock back in terms of that potential - you can't plan a country around a marketplace."
As for tourism ... "Key said let's go with 500 extra Chinese in Queenstown every week on package tours. That's just what we do not need is more package tours.
"We need very rich people coming here to exclusive places and paying the earth. We want the backpackers of the world coming here having a good time and spending a few months picking orchard produce."
In the 2014 election the Aoteaora Legalise Cannabis Party candidate for Tukituki got twice the votes he did, but that doesn't deter him.
He says his strategy this year is to encourage voters to give Tukituki Labour candidate Anna Lorck the tick for the electorate vote and give NZ Democrats for Social Credit the party vote.
"I used to tell reporters they kept writing us off but there's no way we will stop until someone hopefully takes up the cudgels and stops us being held to ransom by overseas banks."