Waimea Weekly
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Wednesday 4 October 2023
Ash aiming high
Rangatahi take to stage Page 8
Page 31
Candidates grilled at Weekly debate KATE RUSSELL Four Nelson candidates were put to the test at the Great Weekly MP Debate on Sunday evening. The debate was hosted by Waimea Weekly and its sister paper Nelson Weekly at McCashins Tap Room in Stoke. It was livestreamed
through the Weekly’s Facebook page by local production company Be Seen More and it was moderated by Johny O’Donnell. Current Nelson MP Rachel Boyack, Green Party candidate Jace Hobbs, National’s Blair Cameron, and ACT MP Chris Baillie were instructed to steer away
Jermaine’s on a rubbish crusade ANNE HARDIE Jermaine Houkamau is on a rubbish crusade, fuelled by the collection of tyres, cans and even a fridge that he has picked up from the local riverbed and trails. He has only been living in the region for a few weeks, but when he began walking the tracks beside the Waimea River, he was so horrified by the amount of rubbish dumped in the area
from party lines and speak from the heart about what they had to offer the Nelson electorate. Jace was clear that he wasn’t seeking the vote and instructed the crowd to vote for Rachel. Chris said the economy is “where we need to focus”. This was echoed by Blair, who
said the economy is the “absolute and number one” thing in this election. “I’ve door knocked more than 4000 homes in Nelson and I’d say about 75-80% of the households I speak to say it’s the cost of living and economy that they want us focused on and that they are real-
ly worried about.” Rachel said, “I absolutely agree that inflation and the cost of living is one the toughest things for people right now.” Jace’s main point through the debate was that the wealthy should
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Jermaine Houkamau has been clearing the riverside of rubbish. Photo: Anne Hardie.
that he decided to do something about it. Since then, he and his auntie have taken several ute-loads of rubbish to the refuse centre and he has piled bigger items like tyres, fridge and plastic pool together, then sent the GPS coordinates of the pile to the council. “Every day I found something new and I was just over it, so
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