Election candidates locked for hotly contested Rangitata seat
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Eight candidates are standing in what is set to be a hotly contested Rangiata electorate in the upcoming general election.
Incumbent Rangitata MP, Labour’s Jo Luxton, will go head-to-head with National’s James Meager, who is out to reclaim the traditionally National seat in Canterbury.
The Rangitata electorate was among those that swung left as the red wave swept the country in the 2020 election.
It meant Luxton achieved a first for Labour in the region, turning the National stronghold of Rangitata from blue to red as part of Labour's landslide victory.
Former Rangitata MP and National candidate Andrew Falloon quit in the lead-up to the last election amid allegations of him sending indecent images to women.
In 2017, he easily won with 56% of the vote, compared to Luxton's 36.6%.
That flipped in 2020, when Luxton beat Falloon's last-minute replacement Megan Hands, with 49.2% of the vote, while Hands received 40%.
Meager is the newcomer for National, hoping to turn the electorate back to blue.
Even if Meager does win, Luxton sits at 19 on the Labour list so she would likely retain her place in Parliament.
It is tipped to be a traditional two-horse race in Rangitata between the Labour and National candidates, but the minor parties are well represented, except for ACT.
ACT had a huge boost in 2019 claiming 9.7% of the electorate’s party vote, but will be without a candidate in 2023. Elaine Naidu Franz resigned as the ACT candidate after historic social media posts came to light and the party has not put forward a replacement.
The other candidates standing in Rangitata are Robert Ballantyne (NZ First), Barbara Gilchrist (Green), Karl Thomas (New Conservative), Wayne Shearer (New Zealand Loyal), Karl Thomas (New Conservatives), and Dolf Van Amersfoort (New Nation Party).
For those on the Māori roll in the district, they will vote in the Te Tai Tonga electorate.
Labour’s Rino Tirikatene has held the seat for four terms and is standing for a fifth.
He is running against Tākuta Ferris (Te Pāti Māori), Geoffrey Karena Fuimaono Puhi (Independent), and Rebecca Robin (Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party).
Advance voting opens on October 2, with the polls closing at the physical voting booths at 7pm on October 14. Provisional results are expected to start coming through from 7pm that night.
+++FACT BOX+++
Rangitata candidates:
Robert Ballantyne, New Zealand First Party
Michael Clarkson, Rock the Vote NZ
Barbara Gilchrist, Green Party
Jo Luxton, Labour Party
James Meager, National Party
Wayne Shearer, New Zealand Loyal
Karl Thomas, New Conservatives
Dolf Van Amersfoort, New Nation Party
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.7% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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