The campaign to be Northland's next MP got underway in earnest on Friday evening with the first candidates meeting for the 2017 general election held at Kaitaia College.
The five candidates - sitting Northland MP Winston Peters (NZ First), Matt King (National), David Clendon (Greens), Maki Herbert (Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party) and Craig Nelson (Act) - offered a wide range of experience and ideas for tackling Northland's problems in a meeting which threw up a number of surprises and revealed the people behind the politicians.
Just over 50 members of the public attended, including a number of college students.
Each candidate was asked to explain their party's position on the idea of a universal basic income, then faced questions from the audience drawn at random from a hat.
Topics traversed included support for sexual abuse victims, the high cost of child care, Northland's stubbornly high unemployment rate, corruption, student loans and the TPPA, while the college's head boy, Reuben Allen, wanted to know what each party would do for Kaitaia school leavers.
Labour's Willow-Jean Prime, who is expecting her second child any day now, did not attend.