First-time Act candidate Simon Casey is keen to make his mark in the Wairarapa electorate.
Asked about financial inequality in society, Casey said: “One of the things we want to do is get rid of welfare dependency. That doesn’t mean we just stop providing assistance where it is needed, but what we have to do is encourage people to get into work.”
Casey said public spending needs to be cut back. “We see the Government as obese - it just primarily comes down to control of government expenditure and not spending more than we are earning, and we have to get inflation under control.”
Regarding bullying in schools, Casey said, “Schools definitely need the ability to suspend or even expel in some cases, and charter schools will be given a special agenda to be able to help difficult children.”
This, Casey believes, will break the cycle of bullying, “because often it’s peer pressure that causes the problem in the first place, and specially trained teachers will be able to assist where their state schools clearly can’t”.
