Election 2020: New Conservative candidate Kerry Campbell targets drug users

New Conservative Party's Whangārei candidate Kerry Campbell plans to take a hard line on users of meth and cannabis if he gets into Parliament. Photo / Tania Whyte

The Northern Advocate and NZME Northland digital and radio platforms, are giving you, the voters, a chance to hear why the candidates standing deserve your vote on October 17.

Northern Advocate reporter Imran Ali and The Hits Northland day announcer Charmaine Soljak have interviewed candidates from the three Northland electorates – Whangārei, Northland and Te Tai Tokerau.

We caught them on video, too, so head to thenorthernadvocate.co.nz and thehits.co.nz to read about the candidates, listen and watch what they have to say.

The Hits Northland, The Northern Advocate, and the Northland Age will introduce you to the candidates, so you can read, watch and hear about what they've had to say, and be well informed before you cast your vote.

Today we look at the first three candidates in the Whangārei electorate, with the rest of the candidates from the electorate appearing tomorrow and on Wednesday.

Here's what we asked them:

What is the biggest single issue facing your electorate and how would you deal with it?

What should be done to help the country recover in a post-Covid world?

Do you support moving the Port of Auckland's work to Northport at Marsden Pt and why/why not?

Do you support three district councils and one regional council for Northland or do you think they should be amalgamated?

Who has had the greatest influence on your life and why?

What needs to be done to address the chronic affordable housing shortage and inequality within Northland?

What is your position on allowing or prohibiting the release of genetically modified organisms and their products into New Zealand's environment?

What needs to be done to overcome NZ's methamphetamine scourge?

Drug users in Northland must be taught to respect their own bodies rather than clamping down on drugs through more legislative powers, Kerry Campbell of New Conservative Party says.

The party's Whangārei candidate said the use of meth and cannabis was the biggest single issue facing the district and that it boiled down to what was wrong with users that they couldn't enjoy life without drugs.

"New Conservative takes a hard line on both marijuana and drug abuse and we believe it is a criminal issue and to remove it out of the realms of criminality is only going to exacerbate the problem.

"On the other side of it, we realise that at its core it's a social problem. One of the values to be taught to people is the respect for their own bodies, their own families because it's such a cruel world when people get hooked on this stuff.

To hear the Hits host Charmaine Soljak's interview click here

Another area of major concern, he said, was the chronic housing shortage which he believed was just a "matter of economics" in that houses, land and subdividing it were too expensive.

New Conservative was committed to reforming the Resource Management Act to remove huge costs and burdens to developers, builders, and to the overall cost of homes to every New Zealander, he said.

He admitted to being a bit ambivalent on whether or not the Ports of Auckland should be moved to Northland but was in favour if it was done in a way that didn't degrade the harbour.

"Look, I just love being able to go down on a boat just 40 minutes from here and get a feed of scallops. On a nice weekend, I love the fact we can go fishing just 10 minutes from here and catch a feed for dinner.

"And our harbour is just a beautiful place, it's lovely and I want to keep it that way. But at the same time I recognise that there are needs that every community has, jobs, infrastructure, economy... those things are important too."

Tackling drug abuse in Whangārei is a priority for the New Conservative Party. Photo / NZME

Campbell believes local councils need to operate as separate entitles.

"Centralisation seems to not address individual issues as well as individual entities can and I think there's a push at the moment to centralise a lot of government and work that centralisation out into our regions and we are opposed to that."

The issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is a "curly" one for him but thinks there's room for it.

"As a farmer, we understand that we're always modifying organisms, we started off with a herd of cows that ended up genetically as the top 5 per cent in New Zealand and that meant these cows produced young animals that were more efficient in production.

"But on the other hand when you're modifying genetics to the point where it could get out of control, I'd be very cautious about that and we've seen that with Monsanto maize where these things have got out into the environment and other people are getting charged for what they're not responsible for."

He'd be dishonest if he didn't say Jesus Christ has had the biggest influence in his life.