Rachel Qi is running for the Wellington City Council from the Takapu – Northern General Ward. A longtime community worker, she heads the Multicultural Council of Wellington (MCW), which aims to bring the different ethnic communities in Wellington under a common platform.
Rachel Qi spoke to the Indian Weekender. Excerpts:
Q. Are you running for Council as an independent candidate?
A. Yes, I’m an independent [candidate]with no party affiliation. I believe we should put the people of Wellington above everything else.
Q. What ward do you represent?
A. I am running for Council from the Northern Ward. I live in Churton Park which is part of Northern Ward. Northern Ward covers Johnsonville, Churton Park, Tawa, Newlands and Grenada Village etc. The Northern Ward is the biggest area in Wellington. We’ve got roughly 50,000 people in the northern area in Wellington. And it’s also very diverse. There are Chinese, Indians, Malaysians, Filipino, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans etc.
Q. You are involved with the Multicultural Council of Wellington, are you not?
A. Yes, I’m the president of the Multicultural Council of Wellington. It has more than 20 ethnic groups [as its members]. Our goal is to celebrate the diversity [of Wellington] and to make sure that ethnic voices are heard. We also provide support to migrants.
Q. What are your main campaign issues?
A. My number one priority, if I’m elected, is infrastructure. Wellington has aging infrastructure. People tell me Wellington must be liveable, affordable and accessible to everyone. Not just to the residents, but tourists as well.
Secondly, safety is also an issue. Many people don’t feel safe, with all the robberies and hate crimes, as well as racism against the ethnic communities.
Q. Why is that? Are the police not doing their job well?
A. It’s about teamwork. I want to see that Wellington City Council works better with the New Zealand Police, and other social organisations and stakeholders, to back up the community. In the Northern Ward, we have community patrols working with the police.
Thirdly, there is the issue of cost of living. I want to make sure people have access to affordable housing. We need to work with government agencies such as the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). I like to see the Wellington City Council being a facilitator for social housing. There is a long list of people who don’t have a place to live.
Q. So how did they manage?
A. Currently, Wellington City Council has changed social housing to community housing, which means people have access to support and subsidies from the central government agencies.
Q. What is the difference between community housing and social housing?
A. People in social housing may not qualify for government subsidy, whereas people under community housing can apply for some of the subsidies from the central government agencies. There needs to be team work between city council, regional council and the central government.
And then, there should be quality spending on the rates. The spending of the rates that people pay must be prioritised. Some of the areas that people want to see their rates being spent on are infrastructure and public transport.
Q. Are you campaigning for lower bus fares or no fares?
A. Public transport is the responsibility, and comes under the control, of the regional council. Wellington City Council can decide on bus stops, bus lines and better services. If I am elected, I would like to work with the regional council to redesign the bus services and also negotiate with the central government to lower the fares. It’s hard to provide free bus services. So, bus services need to be affordable, accessible and reliable.
Q. What is your stand on cycleways?
A. In the Northern Ward, I was told a majority of the people don’t cycle daily. I’m not against the cycleways, but I think we need to prioritise other things, such as getting the pipes fixed.
Q. What’s the problem with fixing the leaking pipes?
A. I have talked to many people, including Wellington City Council [ on this issue]. Wellington has aging infrastructure. So, it’s not an overnight issue. In Wellington, we don’t have enough engineers, enough qualified people to do the job. It’s also very costly. Currently, there is pushback to the Three Waters proposal by the central government, which the government wants the local bodies to implement. There is not enough money to manage projects like Three Waters.
Q. Are you in favour of raising or lowering rates?
A. It’s impossible to lower the rates. I like to see quality spending of the rates.
Q. What is the main problem with the functioning of the current Council?
A. A recent survey says 88 percent of Wellingtonians are not happy with the current Council. The current Council is not united. The majority of the decisions are not reached through consensus. People also tell me there’s too much party politics in the local Council.
That’s why I am standing as an independent candidate. I want to see the Council working together with the people to deliver for Wellington. The current Council is not transparent enough. There needs to be greater consultation. They need to take inputs from the people.
I want Wellingtonians to respect each other’s cultural differences. Ethnic communities need to feel safe and have a sense of belonging to the wider community. Many of our ethnic communities are engaged in small businesses, like running dairy shops and restaurants. I like to see more support for small businesses.
Finally, we need to balance climate change with economic growth so that the city can grow in a sustainable way.
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