Politics has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I have three adult children and six grandchildren. My sons both live overseas and I have a widowed daughter. I worked for 21 years at Waikato University and completed a degree in Politics there. I was also elected onto Environment Waikato and served as a regional councilor for three years and so gained a huge understanding of local body and national politics. I am adamantly opposed to the ETS tax that has been thrust upon us.

I am thrilled that the Conservative Party will seek to repeal this legislation that I am so passionate about. I also believe that binding referenda will give teeth to our democratic process as this is our bottom line policies. I want to see integrity brought back into democracy and I believe the Conservative Party is the one party in New Zealand that can bring this about.

Contact Pat: 07 8437755 

pat.gregory@conservativeparty.org.nz 

Top 5 Issues

1. - Crown ownership of Foreshore & Seabed.
   
   The Conservative Party believes that the foreshore and seabed should remain in the public domain and that it it is not right that anyone can go directly to parliament and bypass the proper legal channels to negotiate ownership.
2. - Repeal of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
   
   I feel very passionate about this. This tax is already beginning to 'bite' us by increased power and fuel costs which are, of course passed on down the chain to us. Once the government implements the sections that will affect farmers - currently withheld until after the election - the farming sector will really suffer, and so will the public as they will have to pass their increases on to us.
   Some of our major trading partners do not have ETS taxes so we are playing on an uneven playing field.
   As a regional councillor I studied the science behind global warming; we here in New Zealand are not being told the full story. Interestingly, when the volcanoes in Iceland erupted earlier this year, they spewed out more emissions into the atmosphere in one day than the whole of NZ does in a year.
3. - Removal of the ban on light smacking.
   
   87% of New Zealanders were against this legislation and over 400 good parents have been penalised and in some cases, their children taken away and their homes broken up through this legislation. Meanwhile, the statistics on child abuse continue to rise. This legislation is not working. Politicians thought they knew better than the rest of the population but the law has proved totally ineffective and should be repealed A.S.A.P.
4. - Alcohol reform - including the drinking age back to 21.
   
   At public meetings, this issue comes up again and again. People are sick of seeing young people drunk - especially the elderly. We need to speedily return to the age of 21 for the purchase of alcohol. Some have said "you can vote at 18 and marry at 18, so why not buy alcohol at 18". In fact, the brain is still growing up the age of 24 and alcohol affects it, so it is important that we shield our young people from the negative effects of alcohol.
5. - Making referenda binding.
   
   My desire for our government is to see integrity brought back into democracy. Binding referenda will give power back to the people as their voice will be heard and acted upon if referenda is binding. The last 3 referenda in NZ have been completely ignored by both National and Labour governments and they have done the exact opposite of what the people wanted. Making referenda binding will make politicians accountable to the people they represent, and this is the way a democracy should function.

Personal Profile