The cost of living is our biggest issue.
Standing for Mayor has been so energising and I have just loved getting to talk face to face with our many and diverse whanau and communities. Earlier this week I had a great hui with the Pasifika community. Which after the last census and according to Te Puni Kokiri this district is the fastest growing Pasifika population in Aotearoa NZ, growing annually at 7.4%, The Māori community is not far behind at 6.9%.
Our wonderful district supports more than 60 different ethnicities, and the mayor is the kaitiaki, the guardian for all that choose to settle here. We talk about diversifying our workforce but from my engagement over the last few weeks with these awesome communities, is that although because of immigration requirements they are locked into low wage tourism roles, a huge percentage are hugely qualified. I talked to Lawyers, Digital innovators, Engineers, Accountants and Scientists out cleaning, portering or hosting. How do we unlock these skills for our community, that is a conversation for the mayor to have with the appropriate ministers.
From the feedback, there is rightly great concern on many issues, from lack of transparency to wastewater. No matter how much time we spend in debate promising the world or calling out people, it’s not until you sit and listen to the voice of our residents, no matter who they are and regardless of their employment status, the most important issue for everyone is cost of living. There are big issues such as power, groceries and fuel but the cost of living is hitting everyone hard. The council has a role to play as we generate a percentage of the bills that stress us out, anyone who has had a rates demand will be very clear that an 18% rise in their rates is unsustainable for residents and their families. In the next triennium the mayor, the elected councillors and the management of QLDC need to have this front and centre. As the saying goes, the BS stops when the green light drops and that is the very first Monday after October 11th. So, no more promises, no more blaming, no more reviews, Lets get stuff done.
To everyone I have interacted and engaged with over my mayoral campaign, thank you so much for allowing me into your space and hopefully I can be the one to work hard for you.
he tangata, he tangata, he tangata! the people, the people, the people.
Darren Rewi for mayor.
