On Wednesday 20th September, we bought together 80+ people at the Sustainability Trust to hear from the Wellington Central Candidates for the 2023 General Election.
A lot of the social and environmental challenges that we host evens on can be massively impacted by those who represent us in government - so we wanted to hear from the hopeful representatives on a selection of the issues we’ve hosted events on in 2023!
Throughout the course of the evening, we set the context for challenges in Food Sustainability, Democratic Innovation, Prison Abolition, and Refugee Resettlement - asking in-depth questions and having our audience pitch in using Slido along the way.
Big thanks to Scott Sheeran, Taylor Arneil, Ibrahim Omer, Tamatha Paul, and Natalia Albert for their kōrero and energy!
Unfortunately this event wasn’t recorded, but at a high level - most candidates seemed to agree with the problems we face; the key differences were found in the solutions they proposed.
What you can do
Vote
First things first - if you need to update your enrolment, you can do so here.
Once that’s all sorted, you’re good to go! Early voting opens October 2nd, and Voting day is October 14th.
Think about the policies you want to see enacted by our Government next term, the people you think can bring those policies to life, and the parties that support those people.
Engage with the candidates
Given our system as it currently stands, there’s no better time to engage with a politician than when they’re campaigning.
It’s when they can make themselves the most available, and have enough other people reaching out that they can see the patterns connecting what the voter base wants to see.
We’ve collated the contact details for the Wellington Central candidates who attended on Wednesday below - get amongst!
Empower others to vote
Last election, Wellington Central had one of the best turnouts across the country; with 88% of enrolled voters exercising their democratic muscles. But we all have one or two friends who are at risk of not voting - and it’s just as important that they have a say!
Action Station are running a campaign to Triple the Vote - learn more about that and sign up to become a Vote Tripler below 🙌
Check out the broader party policies
We’ve heard from our electorate candidates about a range of policies - but that’s far from everything! We’ve linked the policies for every party that was represented at our debate below for you to check out - some are super quick reads, some are incredibly in-depth!
Attend some more debates
As Finn said as we were wrapping up - our debate by itself isn’t enough to create a truly informed vote. Go engage with the candidates at other events - there’s still a few more happening! We’ve linked some for you below:
Karori - Meet the Candidates - Tuesday 25th September
Northland - Meet the Candidates - Wednesday 27th September
The Future of Education in Aotearoa Debate - Thursday 28th September
2023 National Forum on Climate and Housing Justice - Thursday 28th September
Comments