The Peace and Justice Group at St Marks / Our Lady Star of the Sea put a series of questions to the candidates for mayor of Manukau City.
Here is the first reply from current mayor Sir Barry Curtis.
1. Where do you stand on abortion? On Gay Marriage and the proposed Civil Unions Bill ?. What action will you take to support marriage and the family ?
I am opposed to abortion and gay marriage and will continue to advocate strongly for marriage and the family. The social philosophy which I espouse revolves around social justice and equity and strong family values which were taught me as a child by my parents.
2. Do you support user pays for libraries, swimming pools, rubbish collection, water rates?
I have never supported user pays for libraries, swimming pools and rubbish collection. All people, including those born poor at no fault of their own have a right to access information from libraries, use swimming pools and have rubbish collected without the need for any direct payment. To cause young people to pay to use libraries and swimming pools would disadvantage those in poorer areas with limited resources. As regards water rates, I support the current system of charging through meters at individual residential properties to encourage the conservation of water.
3. Will user pays polices unfairly penalise families and children ?
Yes
4. What can and ought Council do to help the poor?
As Mayor I advocate to the government for rates relief and improved social services for low income households. In addition, the Council has a long-established commitment to holistic community development. This policy has proved very effective in coordinating local agencies to eliminate pockets of poverty and work towards promoting a healthy and well-housed community.
5. Do you support retaining subsidised pensioner housing ?
I support subsidised pensioner housing.
6. Is the current rating system fair? How can it be improved?
No, it is based on land value in terms of the Rating Act. It penalises people on low or fixed incomes living in high value properties. I support rates reform which all governments have been loathe to achieve.
7. What action should Council take to help prostitutes out of prostitution and remove the scrounge of prostitution from our city ?
The Council?s range of responsibilities does not extend to guiding prostitutes out of prostitution.
However, the Council is deeply concerned about the impact of isolated areas of prostitution in the City and is working towards eliminating them.
We have recently passed a bylaw to eliminate brothels in residential areas and to restrict them to certain business zones only. As a result of recent legislation passed by the government, brothels and legal enterprises and can be set up in those business zones.
I would like to stop street prostitution in Manukau and I am advocating to government for a new local law to ban street soliciting.
8. Should Council support hospices for the terminally ill to provide a practical alternative to euthanasia ?
I support hospices but they are not part of the core responsibilities of the Council specifically. I am the patron of the South Auckland Hospice. I assisted to identify the strategic site at reasonable cost and assisted with the funding.
Sir Barry Curtis
