Hi there Carol,

Thanks for your question. For the best place to view what the Conservative Party and I are standing for this election, you will be best to read our publications for more details on our website www.conservativeparty.org.nz which gives a much better overview of our policies as we approach this eleciton. However, I'll be happy to outline five points here as the "Top 5" issues.

Crown ownership of Foreshore and Seabed.

National, on behalf of the crown, has given ownership of the foreshore and seabead over to private iwi interests. The foreshore and seabed is an asset that we should all have ownership of as New Zealanders. The Conservative Party believes that ownership of the foreshore and seabed should be returned to Crown ownership.

Repeal of the Emissions Trading Scheme.

New Zealand reducing its emissions, being such a small country in terms of population, would have no impact on a global scale. The ETS means we pay more for petrol and electricity, which means busineses and farmers (farmers being a massive part of our economy) are impacted financially. The Conservative Party would remove the ETS.

Removal of the ban on light smacking.

87% of people voted in a 2009 referendum that parents should be able to use reasonable force to control or discipline their child. This referendum was essentially ignored by the government. The Conservative Party believes that we need to get back to common sense and give parents the option of using reasonable force to disciple their child.

Alcohol reform - including the drinking age back to 21.

Alcohol costs New Zealand an estimated $5 billion in social costs. Alcohol also damages brain development - the human brain continues to develop until the age of around 24. The Conservative Party will raise the purchasing age of alcohol to 21. We would also reduce the blood alcohol limit for drivers from 0.8 to 0.4.

Making referenda binding.

Healthy democracies need voter participation and constraints on the power of government. The Conservative Party will ensure that Citizens Initiated Referenda is binding when there is a clear majority (67%) of voters in support. We need to make sure, therefore, that questions are as clear as possible, that there are appropriate spending limits on promotion and that 5% of previous elections voters need to sign the petition before a referendum can be obtained.

1. The Greens believe that our environment is the number one issue. I do too. We live in a finite world so we must face up to the challenges of our finite environment. The effects of increased environmental pressures are being felt in massive economic and social instability. The current world economic situation bears witness to the impossibility of unlimited growth. So we must respect our environment and sustainably use our resources.

2. Poverty: Closing the ever-growing income gap between the rich and the poor is a priority for the Greens.  Because our resources are limited we need to share what we have. Large disparities of income are reflected in our poor social statistics. Our whole society suffers because of the growing underclass. It is a paradox, that the price of poverty is huge sums of money spent picking up the pieces. There is now a growing body of international evidence that clearly shows the very negative effects of poverty within affluence societies like New Zealand. By looking after the poorest New Zealanders, everyone will be better off. This is especially true for the children of the poor, who deserve the same opportunities, in life, as anyone else.

3. Water. Our environment is our greatest treasure. When we care for our waterways, no only are we improving our quality of life, we are improving our clean green and pure brand, which is estimated to be worth 17 billion each year. New Zealand is still dependent on primary production: our environment is our economy. The Greens want to introduce a commercial water charge. Money collected from this will be invested in improving our waterways. This money will be used to protect our clean green brand by planting and fencing off waterways on farms and setting good water standards. Our tourism sector also relies on the clean and green brand, so we need to make it real, not just an image.

4  Assett sales: National seem desperate to sell our state assets at any cots. The assets earmarked for sale, earn about a billion per year. So in five years time they earn the same amount as National wants to get for their sale. This is totally irresponsible and it is an absurdity that National are planning to sell assets that you and I already own back to “mum and dad investors”. This is just plain dishonest.  The Greens will retain our state assets and use them as a catalyst for our economic future. We want to create thousands of new jobs in the growing international renewable energy industry. We want more business incentives and more research and development funding for this sector.

5. Jobs: The Green Party want to insulate another 100,000 New Zealand homes. We want to increase the minimum wage and reverse the tendency towards a low wage economy.  We must protect our local jobs by opposing Free trade agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership. Rather than “Free trade” the Greens champion “Fair trade”. Many workers have suffering through decades of poor regulation. National and Labour’s policies of self-regulation have been failures. The poor decisions around privatisation and self-regulation are becoming plain to see: Pike River, the Rena oil spill and the current state of coastal shipping is a disgrace. We have seen sinking ships, drownings and slave labour plying our coasts. On land we have seen poor maintenance of electricity infrastructure and the recent gas pipeline failure. Our rail network is a shadow of its former self. It is the responsibility of Governments to show leadership and sensibly regulate industries rather than leave it to industry interests to self-regulate. The Greens will strengthen oversight and regulation to better protect workers.