Minority support for legalising cannabis at Kaikōura debate

While some Kaikōura candidates have admitted "personal experience" with cannabis, only two will vote 'yes' in next month's referendum.

About 110 people watched as six candidates fielded questions at a pre-election debate at Biddy Kate's Irish Bar in Blenheim on Tuesday night.

Bar owner and former deputy mayor Terry Sloan, who hosted the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce and The Marlborough Express event, asked if candidates supported legalising recreational "dope" and if they could "speak from experience" - to laughs from the audience.

Green Party candidate Dr Richard McCubbin and incumbent MP Stuart Smith, running again for the National Party, said they had personal experience with cannabis. McCubbin was a student at the time and thought it was "quite pleasant".

Labour Party candidate Matt Flight, ACT candidate Richard Evans and NZ First candidate Jamie Arbuckle had not smoked weed, but knew people who had. New Conservative candidate David Greenslade did not provide an answer.

Their admissions came 25 days before the country decides on whether to support or throw out the proposed Cannabis Legislation and Control Bill, on 17 October. New Zealanders will also vote on the End of Life Choice referendum and the general election.

If New Zealanders vote in favour of the cannabis bill, cannabis consumption, sale and purchase for recreational use would be made legal for those 20 years old and above, allowing them to buy up to 14 grams of dried cannabis (or its equivalent) each day from licensed outlets.

McCubbin and Flight said they would vote 'yes' on the bill.

McCubbin said it would help get cannabis "out of the shadows" and minimise its harm on communities.

"As a doctor, alcohol is a much more harmful drug than cannabis. The emergency department at the hospital here is not full of people who've had too much dope. They're [EDs] full of people who've had too much alcohol and smashed themselves up, or their friends up, or their family up, or they have long-term health problems," McCubbin said.

Both Evans and Smith pointed out the bill was a draft that "could look like anything" after being tabled at Parliament.

Smith said the bill would not stop illegal cannabis suppliers from operating, and could even make them "a huge profit" as they would not pay taxes and so could offer a product 15 percent cheaper than legal growers.

"I favour decriminalisation rather than legalisation."

Arbuckle said the bill went against the government's long-term push to make New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.

"We've got enough issues without adding cannabis."

Greenslade said New Conservative would be voting 'no' in the referendum as they were "totally against" the new bill.

Speed limit canvassed

Other issues that were debated included should the speed limit on SH6 between Blenheim and Nelson be reduced to 80km/h.

Arbuckle: "It should stay at 100km/h. That's been the right speed. We need to invest in those problem areas, once [Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency] identifies them."

Greenslade: "I think the speed limit is OK at the moment ... If we can rectify the bumps and lumps on the road, but keep the speed limit the same, it will be a very safe road."

Flight: "For myself personally, yes, it should be 80km/h the whole way for safety reasons. At the end of the day, two minutes of extra driving is not going to hurt you."

Evans: "We've spent a lot of money on being able to travel quicker and safer on the highway's corners. We would be wasting it if we dropped the speed limit."

Smith: "Definitely not. ... National Party has announced that we will not lower the speed limit from 100km/h, it will stay at that, and we will build at least three passing lanes between Blenheim and Nelson. The money is there."

McCubbin: "I can't remember the last time I travelled the road. I'm going to have to pass on this one. My basic feeling though is, as a doctor attending motor vehicle accidents quite frequently, I know that speed kills and higher speeds kill even more effectively. My instinct would be to think that a 80km/h speed limit is quite sensible."

Should jobs be offered to skilled overseas workers?

Smith: "Immigration for me is about what's good for New Zealand. It's about filling gaps that we can't fill ... It should always be Kiwis first ... but we need to transition to that."

McCubbin: "I accept it's a difficult problem, because we have no idea when Covid-19 will allow us to allow you to get the skilled immigrants you want. I think one thing to do is keep the immigrants that are still here working on the [wine] vintage ... making certain their visas are extended."

Evans: "The RSE [Recognised Seasonal Employer] scheme is a capped scheme. One of the things the ACT Party would like to put forward is that it's not capped any more, so we could get in as many [workers] as we need."

Flight: "This is hot off the press. Cabinet has made changes to the RSE scheme. We've made changes and supplemented the seasonal employment visa with 11,000 more ... We're not the only area in New Zealand wanting workers. In between Auckland and Southland, there's a lot of farming communities that want the same amount of people that we do, to do the exact same type of jobs."

Greenslade: "It should be New Zealanders first in the jobs. When the immigrants come in, they should fill vacancies."

Arbuckle: "New Zealand First does believe we need to get locals employed ... At the end of the day, some people in this country actually need to start working, or we don't pay them the benefit. Another policy New Zealand First wants to put forward is to actually bond people to the regions."

How should climate change be addressed?

Smith: "I'm the chairman of the Global Legislation For A Better Environment which is a cross-party parliamentary group and the purpose of it is to stop yo-yoing in terms of policies through the election cycles ... Personally, I think the policies we've come up for in this election - like how we will extend electric vehicles not paying road user charges through to 2023 - have been a positive step."

McCubbin: "It isn't just the Greens Party, it's all of us, because we're all in the same waka here ... The Greens Party has many policies about trying to tackle climate change. The most important thing we can do as a country is use Covid-19 to pivot to a smart, green, low-carbon sustainable economy. We cannot carry on with business as usual. It will be bad for climate and the economy."

Evans: "We [the ACT Party] do believe we need to keep up with the rest of the world and, as an exporting nation, we really do have to have a plan to deal with carbon."

Flight: "I can tell you a couple of things that Labour has done. The Zero Carbon Bill. We passed that. We restored emissions to the emission trading scheme, to reward emission reduction, and we started planting 1 million trees by 2028 to capture carbon and clean waterways."

Greenslade: "I think the first thing we've got to do is get out of the Paris Agreement ... We spend $1.4 billion a year towards this carbon tax, and New Conservative would sooner spend that money on pollution solutions."

Arbuckle: "We've been putting investment into rail to get trucks off our roads ... We've been putting money into the defence portfolio as well, because regardless of what New Zealand does around climate change it will be the Defence Force given the call in [climate] emergencies."

Votes can be cast from 3 October 3 to 17 October at voting places around the region.

Local Democracy Reporting is a public interest news service supported by RNZ, the News Publishers' Association and NZ on Air.

Read more about the 2020 election:

• Latest election coverage
• The Elevator Pitch
• RNZ's election policy guide
• Party leader interviews
• Outliers: the smaller parties vying for a place in Parliament