Kia ora everyone and thank you for listening in, whether that be here in person, in Nelson, or virtually over social media, and youtube.

It is extremely important that we make the best of our opportunities to move towards a new vision for New Zealand. This vision is one of ensuring that we are looking after people, and not looking after the profits of companies. The common assumption in the past has been, what is good for the economy is what is good for people, but that is simply not the case. That is not to discount the role of the economy in people's lives, but the fact that the economy only makes up part of a person's life, not the whole of it, which is where we want to change. Under a labour government, people will actually start to feel as though they are more than just a drone who has to work to stay alive, and a complete change in social policy, and the framing of government policy is one of the major things that the Labour party wants to change. The easiest way to do this, is to ensure that the policy that we deliver is designed by the people who need it most, for the people who need it most, which is almost the opposite of the National party policy, who seem to think, in a cost of living crisis making it harder to live for the lowest income members of the community is the way forward, but lining the pockets of their donors who earn above $140,000 a year, is beneficial for the economy.

It really comes back to the main point again, this Labour party is one of social progress, one that understands the need to remove the economy being the forefront of policy. We will ensure that people have the tools to engage in the economy, such as the wider provision of public transport, and implementing a tax-free threshold of $10,000, however we will also ensure that when participating in the economy workers have adequate protections, by implementing Fair Pay Agreements, continuing to oppose 90 day trials, and ensuring unions are able to function in a way that is useful for workers and business to get proper solutions.

Overall, Labour is the party of the worker, and by extension every day people, and it is therefore important to ensure that we are looking after these people as best as possible.

The live stream finishes and Frod begins to mingle with the people of Nelson trying to understand where their biggest issues with current policy are

Frod: So what is everyone's current biggest hook up for workers:

The room begins to buzz with ideas

Joel: Personally I don't like whats going on with the management of the environment, the RMA needs to go.

Frod: The RMA is deeply flawed, indeed, however there needs to be a wider change than just the legislation, the accompanying documents such as National Policy Statements and National Environment Standards need to change along with it, which is why in our first few months if elected, Labour will look to update these standards and Statements to fit in to the RMA, before replacing the legislation as a whole.

Bob: I think housing is a real hard one for me, its not affordable enough, but I am uncomfortable about drab apartment blocks.

Frod: Bob, that is a real common worry, and I hope I can put that worry to rest. Throughout my time as a Policy Planner, it was important to ensure that we made policies that would encourage better outcomes for people, and the best way to do with, was to encourage unpopular things, by making them better places to live, and make them more than just apartments, but apartments that get plenty of light, plenty of greenspaces, and are in locations that are easy to access amenities, that's how you make better urban spaces.

Linda: I really struggle with the thought of the rich getting a tax break while the poor get a tax rise?

Frod: I still cannot believe that the national party presented a budget in which their donors were directly the best people out of it, and the people who need that small amount of money the most lost out, that's why Labour wants to implement a tax free threshold to ensure that New Zealanders can afford to buy what they need, and show the national party that those on low incomes arent the ones causing inflation.

Cheryl: I see co-governance becoming a much more important part, but from what I've seen it doesn't work.

Frod: to say co-governance doesn't work is understandable, there has not been the level of success that is important, which is why there is changes we want to make from what we have learnt working with a range of iwi, such as Tuhoe, and Ngāi Tahu. Using this knowledge we can try and provide better outcomes from everyone involved.

Chaz: Im a big user of the ferries and it worries me that they're going to be replaced, surely they cant be any better than what we have already.

Frod: Trust me they will be! there will be more capacity for rail, lower emissions and better fuel efficiency, with more of a focus on renewable energy solutions for powering the systems on-board too.

Frod has to wrap up questions with consistuents, but found the feedback useful for understanding what the people of TWP wanted from a labour government