Candidates respond to Indian Weekender's survey on election issues
Mt Roskill is no ordinary electoral seat facing by-elections. It represents one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in New Zealand where more than 45% of residents were born overseas.
It is also a constituency which has a huge representation of people of Indian and Chinese descent—the two largest group of migrants to have arrived in New Zealand in the last few years.
According to Michael Wood, the Labour Party candidate in the by-election, Mt Roskill is a place which offers everyone, including new migrants and resident New Zealanders, an opportunity to "start their life" in New Zealand.
Similarly, according to a National Party supporter from Dr Parmjeet Parmar's campaign team, Mt Roskill is a constituency which offers a first real chance to a person of Indian descent to become an electorate MP in the New Zealand parliament.
Further, Mt Roskill is unique as it is here that the New Zealand's first ethnic political party New Zealand People's Party—claiming "recognition" for the contribution of different ethnicities in New Zealand, is testing waters in parliamentary elections.
It is for this reason that we continue to bring focus on this by-election. And one of the best ways of doing that is by asking candidates directly about their opinion on Indian Weekender's by-election survey.
Following our survey within the electorate of Mt Roskill, we approached the top three electoral candidates to know more about their policy and suggested solutions on some of the issues dear to Mt Roskill electorate, in order to help you portray a clear picture of what your prospective Member of Parliament is going to offer the solutions to those issues.
In this edition, our main focus is—law and order.
IWK: Do you agree with Indian Weekender's survey outcome for the primary issues of Mt Roskill by-election?
Dr Parmar: I want to commend Indian Weekender for conducting this survey, and this is a good outcome. The issues are in line with issues that I identify with people when I talk to them in Mt Roskill. Along with these issues, I am also focussing on small businesses and education.
IWK: What do you have to say about our readers' response as law and order being the main election issue?
Dr Parmar: Law and order and public transport are two top priorities for people. From what I hear from people, they want to spend more time with their family instead of being stuck in traffic. This is something that bothers them every day. I would like to see people spend that extra time with their family or being productive at work.
IWK: What policies you will bring to address the issue of law and order?
Dr Parmar: Law and order is an issue that concerns families and small businesses. Since National came to [power], we increased our police numbers by 600 and Prime Minister has already announced that there will be more investment in frontline police officers. That announcement will come in due course. We also saw latest evidence of break-ins going up and that is a concern, and we have already addressed that by moving break-ins from volume crime to priority crime.
Then it's not just about catching the criminals it's also about addressing the root cause. When we talk to the small businesses, then it's normally young people who are offending, and that is where we want to put our focus along with improving our frontline police staff. This is why we are focussing on early intervention in families with a complex situation to ensure that our young people stay on track. Yes, we know that we need to do more.
IWK: Do you agree with Indian Weekender's survey outcome for the main issues of Mt Roskill by-election.
Michael Wood: That absolutely gels with what I am hearing in the community, particularly across the Indian community. There is a real concern about the rising rate of crime and a real concern that our police do not have enough resources to respond to crime. There is one statistic that says that there is a huge increase in burglaries and only 4% of burglaries actually get solved. It means that 96% are not getting solved. People, at the moment, don't have the confidence that the law and order problem is [being] taken seriously. I think we need some real action and better support for our police so that they can keep our communities safe.
IWK: What policies you will bring to address law and order problem?
Wood: There are two issues in particular that I am campaigning on. One is to improve resources to enhance our frontline police. Labour Party has put out a policy that we will bring 1000 frontline police officials. These police officials will be on the street just walking around the shops keeping an eye on things, checking out the car parks and maintaining the friendly local presence. I believe that it is very important to deter crime. People remember that 20-30 years ago it was common to see police staff just walking around in local shops talking to people and keeping any eye on things. I think it is important to bring that kind of community policing back in New Zealand. Also, if we have more police then they are going to be more responsive to actually solve the crime. At the moment in an event of a burglary, it takes few days before police can actually get there. We need much faster follow up and so 1000 police under Labours will help achieve that.
The another local issue that I am campaigning on is the reopening of Mt Roskill police station for the public. It was closed for the public four years ago which means that people cannot go to meet their local police officials to get support and to raise issues. The people think that closing of the police station for the public has broken the link between the community and the local police. I am campaigning to restore that kind of local community connection with the police.
IWK: What do you think is not working right now in the current National government that you want to do differently to restore public confidence in controlling the law and order problem?
Wood: I don't think they are bad people...But I think that they are very focused on winning elections and being popular, and are not focussed on dealing with big issues. If we look at housing, they just say that there is no big issue and push it aside. Same on transport and law on order. They keep saying that crime rate is not rising when everyone knows in our community that this is an issue. Until you realise and accept that there is an issue or a problem you will not take corrective action. So I will say that there is a lack of will to take serious action on some of these issues. This is my main critique of the National government. Maybe, they have run out of energy after three terms.
IWK: What do you have to say about our reader's response as law and order as the main election issue?
Roshan Nauhria: We completely agree with this outcome. In fact, we are making this as the most important focus of our campaign, especially for the ethnic communities. The situation [of] law and order has gone bad in the last eight years. Since last year only, there has been a 12% increase in burglary and we hear about robberies so frequently. The current National government says that they are going to put more police into it. But they just say!
It has taken them eight years to say that they are going to do something about it. Nobody knows when they will actually do something.
IWK: What policies you will bring to address law and order problem?
Nauhria: We cannot solve the problem of law and order alone in the Mt Roskill as it is a problem for whole Auckland and the entire country. So we will make noise in the Parliament for urgent action on the law and order problem. We are also proposing to open a direct line for the Indian and Chinese community where they can call and speak in their own language at the time of stress when facing criminal activities.
We are in the process of preparing a law and order policy which will be nationwide and we plan to declare it before the next national elections. Our party's strategy is to sit with the police, justice department and others and tell them that we want to bring the crime rate down by 50%, so they have to work out and tell us what resources are required to achieve this goal and we will work towards that.
If we get the balance of power in next elections, then our target is to bring crime rate by 50% in next five years.
Mt Roskill is no ordinary electoral seat facing by-elections. It represents one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in New Zealand where more than 45% of residents were born overseas.
It is also a constituency which has a huge representation of people of Indian and Chinese descent—the two...
Mt Roskill is no ordinary electoral seat facing by-elections. It represents one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in New Zealand where more than 45% of residents were born overseas.
It is also a constituency which has a huge representation of people of Indian and Chinese descent—the two largest group of migrants to have arrived in New Zealand in the last few years.
According to Michael Wood, the Labour Party candidate in the by-election, Mt Roskill is a place which offers everyone, including new migrants and resident New Zealanders, an opportunity to "start their life" in New Zealand.
Similarly, according to a National Party supporter from Dr Parmjeet Parmar's campaign team, Mt Roskill is a constituency which offers a first real chance to a person of Indian descent to become an electorate MP in the New Zealand parliament.
Further, Mt Roskill is unique as it is here that the New Zealand's first ethnic political party New Zealand People's Party—claiming "recognition" for the contribution of different ethnicities in New Zealand, is testing waters in parliamentary elections.
It is for this reason that we continue to bring focus on this by-election. And one of the best ways of doing that is by asking candidates directly about their opinion on Indian Weekender's by-election survey.
Following our survey within the electorate of Mt Roskill, we approached the top three electoral candidates to know more about their policy and suggested solutions on some of the issues dear to Mt Roskill electorate, in order to help you portray a clear picture of what your prospective Member of Parliament is going to offer the solutions to those issues.
In this edition, our main focus is—law and order.
IWK: Do you agree with Indian Weekender's survey outcome for the primary issues of Mt Roskill by-election?
Dr Parmar: I want to commend Indian Weekender for conducting this survey, and this is a good outcome. The issues are in line with issues that I identify with people when I talk to them in Mt Roskill. Along with these issues, I am also focussing on small businesses and education.
IWK: What do you have to say about our readers' response as law and order being the main election issue?
Dr Parmar: Law and order and public transport are two top priorities for people. From what I hear from people, they want to spend more time with their family instead of being stuck in traffic. This is something that bothers them every day. I would like to see people spend that extra time with their family or being productive at work.
IWK: What policies you will bring to address the issue of law and order?
Dr Parmar: Law and order is an issue that concerns families and small businesses. Since National came to [power], we increased our police numbers by 600 and Prime Minister has already announced that there will be more investment in frontline police officers. That announcement will come in due course. We also saw latest evidence of break-ins going up and that is a concern, and we have already addressed that by moving break-ins from volume crime to priority crime.
Then it's not just about catching the criminals it's also about addressing the root cause. When we talk to the small businesses, then it's normally young people who are offending, and that is where we want to put our focus along with improving our frontline police staff. This is why we are focussing on early intervention in families with a complex situation to ensure that our young people stay on track. Yes, we know that we need to do more.
IWK: Do you agree with Indian Weekender's survey outcome for the main issues of Mt Roskill by-election.
Michael Wood: That absolutely gels with what I am hearing in the community, particularly across the Indian community. There is a real concern about the rising rate of crime and a real concern that our police do not have enough resources to respond to crime. There is one statistic that says that there is a huge increase in burglaries and only 4% of burglaries actually get solved. It means that 96% are not getting solved. People, at the moment, don't have the confidence that the law and order problem is [being] taken seriously. I think we need some real action and better support for our police so that they can keep our communities safe.
IWK: What policies you will bring to address law and order problem?
Wood: There are two issues in particular that I am campaigning on. One is to improve resources to enhance our frontline police. Labour Party has put out a policy that we will bring 1000 frontline police officials. These police officials will be on the street just walking around the shops keeping an eye on things, checking out the car parks and maintaining the friendly local presence. I believe that it is very important to deter crime. People remember that 20-30 years ago it was common to see police staff just walking around in local shops talking to people and keeping any eye on things. I think it is important to bring that kind of community policing back in New Zealand. Also, if we have more police then they are going to be more responsive to actually solve the crime. At the moment in an event of a burglary, it takes few days before police can actually get there. We need much faster follow up and so 1000 police under Labours will help achieve that.
The another local issue that I am campaigning on is the reopening of Mt Roskill police station for the public. It was closed for the public four years ago which means that people cannot go to meet their local police officials to get support and to raise issues. The people think that closing of the police station for the public has broken the link between the community and the local police. I am campaigning to restore that kind of local community connection with the police.
IWK: What do you think is not working right now in the current National government that you want to do differently to restore public confidence in controlling the law and order problem?
Wood: I don't think they are bad people...But I think that they are very focused on winning elections and being popular, and are not focussed on dealing with big issues. If we look at housing, they just say that there is no big issue and push it aside. Same on transport and law on order. They keep saying that crime rate is not rising when everyone knows in our community that this is an issue. Until you realise and accept that there is an issue or a problem you will not take corrective action. So I will say that there is a lack of will to take serious action on some of these issues. This is my main critique of the National government. Maybe, they have run out of energy after three terms.
IWK: What do you have to say about our reader's response as law and order as the main election issue?
Roshan Nauhria: We completely agree with this outcome. In fact, we are making this as the most important focus of our campaign, especially for the ethnic communities. The situation [of] law and order has gone bad in the last eight years. Since last year only, there has been a 12% increase in burglary and we hear about robberies so frequently. The current National government says that they are going to put more police into it. But they just say!
It has taken them eight years to say that they are going to do something about it. Nobody knows when they will actually do something.
IWK: What policies you will bring to address law and order problem?
Nauhria: We cannot solve the problem of law and order alone in the Mt Roskill as it is a problem for whole Auckland and the entire country. So we will make noise in the Parliament for urgent action on the law and order problem. We are also proposing to open a direct line for the Indian and Chinese community where they can call and speak in their own language at the time of stress when facing criminal activities.
We are in the process of preparing a law and order policy which will be nationwide and we plan to declare it before the next national elections. Our party's strategy is to sit with the police, justice department and others and tell them that we want to bring the crime rate down by 50%, so they have to work out and tell us what resources are required to achieve this goal and we will work towards that.
If we get the balance of power in next elections, then our target is to bring crime rate by 50% in next five years.
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