Local Focus asked three candidates for main parties in the election if New Zealand should tax rich people more in order to help poor people escape poverty.
NZ First candidate Tricia Lawrence said no and that NZ First stands for an equal system.
"We don't want to penalise people thathave worked hard or made sacrifices themselves in order to make their gains," she said.
Labour's Angie Warren-Clarke said she stands for "fairness".
"The reality is that if we've got some people earning a greater amount of money and some people not able to be in homes or fed, or go to the health system or use a doctor, then actually is that the kind of country we want to live in?"
National candidate and former party leader Todd Muller said the way poor families escape poverty is to have the opportunity to get a job and be part of a community that is flourishing.
"That isn't a function of higher taxation, that's a function of an economy that's outward-looking," he said.
Also standing in the Bay of Plenty electorate: • Pete Huggins for the Greens • Bruce Carley for ACT • Christopher Coker for Legalise Cannabis • Angela Moncur for Advance NZ • Margaret Colmore for New Conservative • Sharon Devery for ONE • Chris Jenkins The Opportunities Party
