The first response to our candidate survey for the Mt Albert by-election has come in and it's from former United Future MP Judy Turner. We have a further three responses waiting in the wings and two other candidates have emailed to say they will fill out the survey soon.
Candidate: Judy Turner
Party: United Future
Q: What particular issues do you believe women in Mt Albert face?
A: A large percentage of woman in this electorate are immigrants facing all the challenges that resettlement involves. Better resourcing of migrant services to better assist families is a blaring need. Immigration policy should be under-girded by a clearly articulated population strategy that considers both our needs as a country and the needs of immigrants to integrate comfortably. Family pressures are of real concern for many woman in Mount Albert. There are many experiencing real hardship and the electorate has beneficiary numbers that are higher than the national average.
Q: How do you think women's representation could be preserved and/or enhanced if the proposed Auckland Super City proceeds?
A: The input and ongoing voice of women at every level of government is vital and of particular interest to United Future is the role of community boards under the new structure. Local grassroots elected representation must be given real teeth to ensure that the distinctive needs and strengths of each neighbourhood and suburb are addressed and protected. Woman must be proactive participants in this.
Multi-choice questions (candidate's answer is in bold):
Should the Ministry of Women's Affairs be:
Abolished OR Decreased OR Continued at the current level OR Increased
Candidate comment: the ongoing work programme is relevant. United Future also believes that there should also be resourcing for mens issues but not at the expense of the work of the existing Ministry
In considering allegations of rape the law should:
Require the defendant to prove sex was consensual OR require the victim to disprove sex was consensual (status quo)
Candidate comment: Actually both should be required to give evidence in this regard
Should access to abortion be:
Abolished OR Restricted OR Continued as currently provided OR Increased to on demand
Candidate comment: restricted to the correct interpretation of the current law
Should paid parental leave be:
Abolished OR Decreased OR Continued at the current level OR Increased
Candidate comment: I agree with the recommendations of the Families Commission
In the forthcoming Child Discipline referendum New Zealanders should:
Vote Yes OR Vote No or Abstain (no option chosen)
Candidate comment: Unclear what the exact wording on the referendum is
Pay Equity measures by Government are:
Necessary OR Unnecessary
Social change advertising campaigns, such as It's Not Ok, should be:
Abolished OR Decreased OR Continued at the current level OR Increased
Candidate comment: very effective as demonstrated by the increased numbers of self-referrals to anger management courses
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Thanks Judy for your quick response, and if you are reading this please feel free to take part in the comment thread conversations.
(Also if there is someone out there who filled in the survey as an independent but didn't put their name in, please get in touch. Not you Mr Salient Editor, your's is clearly marked).
8 comments:
Aside from the abortion issue, that's all rather positive. I like the understanding that immigrant women have particular needs.
Many thanks for responding, Judy.
I'm a little perplexed that a recent MP from a party which had such a public falling out over section 59 doesn't know enough about the referendum to know which way she'll vote.
She could also have usefully told us her position on child discipline.
But otherwise, yeah, I echo Deborah: good answers except for abortion, nice to hear such positive messages from United Future.
I liked these answers too (except the abortion one), and particularly the answer about immigrants.
I seem to remember the UF candidates at the general election responding similarly. UF seem to be quite good on the role of women, despite also being quite conservative - maybe because a chunk of their members are Christian, and Christian women often do lots of leadership and work in the community?
Whatever the case, thanks for your answers Judy.
Ahh, why should it surprise you that a conservative party be "quite good" on the role of women. I've flittered from 3 parties on the CR and Labour over a decade and have found that all have been very open and positive with the roles of women. In fact I found Labour to have the most resentment under Ms Clark with the male membership.
Anon, the abortion question is one reason. The other is the traditional family values thing - it can sometimes lead to disapproval of non-traditional families (eg gay and lesbian-headed families, solo-parent families). So while conservative parties may foster female leadership, they may not do so well (from a feminist viewpoint) in other aspects of women's lives.
I don't have any experience of the Labour party, but I do agree that progressive policies can exist side-by-side with disrespectful treatment of women.
Anna,
I think UF changed significantly when Copeland, Baldock et al left to eventually set up the Family Party: the most conservative elements walked away leaving UF more centrist.
Do we get to see Mr Salient's answers?
Sorry I am way behind with these, but hope to get up to speed on the weekend :-) Also we have had some technical glitches with the survey which I also hope to rectify soon. Thanks for your patience.
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