This year for the first time the Party AGM was held on the North Shore in Auckland, in the Northcote electorate of Damian Light.
Members & new supporters from all over NZ gathered to hear party leader Peter Dunne give his leader’s address.
Then during his President’s address, retiring President Damian Light confirmed the key points on which we are standing in the local elections.
“Auckland needs a clear vision for the future”, says United-Future President Damian Light, “which is why UnitedFuture is campaigning on four key issues:
- Rates Reform—the current system is broken and unfair
- Getting Auckland moving through improved public transport, bringing back passenger services to Hamilton and West Auckland for example.
- Contribute to resolving the housing crisis through innovative schemes such as Shared Ownership schemes, and freeing up land blighted by electricity pylons by putting the cables underground.
- Complete overhaul of traffic management. We need to re-view everything from the number of traffic lights and where these could be replaced by roundabouts or part time lights, traffic calming schemes in residential streets.”
“Traffic management in Auckland is a disaster with the average speed slower than in the days of the horse and cart, costing commuters and the economy billions of dollars every year” he added. “There’s only one Future for Auckland, and that’s a UnitedFuture!”
This was followed by an update from party candidates standing in the local body elections. Our candidates are:
- In The North Shore (Damian Light),
- Waitakere (Jason Woolston),
- Whau Ward in New Lynn (John Hubscher), and
- Bryan Mockridge is also contesting the Tamaki subdivision of the Maungakikie-Tamaki Local Board.
It was reported how well the campaign was going in Whau Ward where John Hubscher has been canvassing door to door as well as on the telephone.
The Party President election result was then announced with Damian Light being re-elected. This was the first time we have elected the President by a general vote of members and thanks were expressed to the two losing candidates, James Maxwell & Ian Gaskin for making it a contested election.
Simon Gluck was also elected onto an otherwise unchanged Board of Management for the party.
