Hawke's Bay candidates have their say

Wairarapa Conservative candidate Brent Reid speaks at the Meet The Candidates evening in Waipukurau. Photo / Paul Taylor

Dissatisfaction with the Government was expressed by audience members at a Meet the Candidates event in Central Hawke's Bay last night.

About 50 people gathered in St Mary's Church Hall, Waipukurau, to hear 10 candidates from the Tukituki and Wairarapa electorates speak.

The event, hosted by CHB Business and Professional Women, drew a crowd of middle-aged and elderly men and women.

Wairarapa National candidate Alastair Scott was heckled by the audience, to the point where an organiser had to interject several times.

"You've got to be joking," an audience member said as Mr Scott used a car analogy to describe progress under the National Party.

Tukituki National MP and candidate Craig Foss was also heckled but the audience remained quiet during talks from the rest of the candidates, who included Tukituki Labour candidate Anna Lorck, Wairarapa Labour candidate Kieran McAnulty and Wairarapa NZ First candidate Ron Mark.

"Alastair Scott said the Government is in third gear. Well, this Government has forgotten to put the oil in the engine, because the oil is the regions," Ms Lorck said.

The audience again became excited when, during question time, a man in the audience described the Conservative Party's policies as "regressive" and asked Wairarapa Conservative candidate Brent Reid: "Why is social progress bad for families?"

Mr Reid responded: "Would you like your daughter to be raped and murdered by a guy who's got 50 convictions?"

In response to a question from an audience member about Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics, organiser Jeanette Kenderdine said the event was intended to discuss policy rather than dirty politics.

CANDIDATES LIST

Candidates in Hawke's Bay electorates, with results of elections since the start of the new millennium in 2000 (* denotes current MP)

Napier
BAILEY, Paul (Green)
McVICAR, Garth (Conservative)
NASH, Stuart (Labour)
O'NEILL, Mar (Alliance)
PULFORD, Barry (Democrat for Social Credit)
WALFORD, Wayne (National)
2002 Labour (Russell Fairbrother) maj 4157; 2005 National (Chris Tremain) maj 3591; 2008 National (Tremain) maj 9018; 2011 National (Tremain) maj 3701.

Tukituki
* FOSS, Craig (National)
JENKINSON, Stephen (Conservative)
LENNOX, Duncan (ACT)
LORCK, Anna (Labour)
MANNING, Romana (Legalise Cannabis Aotearoa)
PERLEY, Chris (Green)
RYAN, Dick (Democrat for Social Credit)
2002 Labour (Rick Barker) maj 6410; 2005 National (Craig Foss) maj 2402; 2008 National (Foss) maj 7811; 2011 National (Foss) maj 9660.

Wairarapa
ATKINSON, Shane (ACT)
HART, John (Green)
McANULTY, Kieran (Labour)
MARK, Ron (NZ First)
REID, Brent (Conservative)
SCOTT, Alastair (National)
SMITH, Ra (Maori)
2002 Labour (Georgina Beyer) maj 6372; 2005 National (John Hayes) maj 2752; 2008 National (Hayes) maj 6758; 2011 National (Hayes) maj 7135.

Ikaroa Rawhiti
EDEN, Cathryn (Independent)
FOX, Marama (Maori)
KANI, Henare (Green)
NIKORA, Te Hamua (Mana)
ROSE, Vicky (The Expats)
* WHAITIRI, Meka (Labour)

2002 Labour (Parekura Horomia) maj 10,359; 2005 Labour (Horomia) maj 1932; 2008 Labour (Horomia) maj 1645; 2011 Labour (Horomia) maj 6541; 2013 by-election Labour (Meka Whaitiri) maj 1659.

• The current Parliament comprises 119 members. Current representation is: National Party 59 seats, Labour Party 34, Green Party 14, New Zealand First 7, Maori Party 3, Mana Movement 1, United Future 1.