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Political Attacks Only Harden Candidates’ Resolve
The pillar policies of the Independent Together ticket are founded on addressing the priority concerns of ratepayers – the high cost of rates, the burgeoning unnecessary services consuming council funds, and the influence of party politics on council decision making.
At 14 town hall meetings across the city, we presented our reasoning behind the pillars as well as our strategy for cutting council spending.
Experienced political agitators attended two events, culminating in them attempting to shout down our message and intimidate supporters during our finale at The Grand in Courtenay Place. The political machinations at play have an enormous psychological impact for all of the candidates.
The accompanying media coverage and the scrutiny on the team has been intense. As one very experienced media commentator has already stated, he has never seen such prolonged and vicious media attacks used in the lead up to local body elections before.
The extent of it has been unnerving on our business and community minded candidates. While the team feels the loss of both Andrea Compton and Dan Milward, we acknowledge the impact this is having on both of their families. Politics is extremely challenging for the inexperienced.
Dan Milward says: “Like many others, I was surprised by the recent allegations and the subsequent media coverage storm. Finally, when my wife was threatened by the agitators at our final roadshow event in Wellington CBD on Tuesday night, I knew it was time to take a different approach.”
Threats and bullying tactics by the political establishment won’t work on Independent Together candidates anymore.
We are stronger and even more focused. We remain committed to delivering on our five key pillars for the betterment of Wellington and getting enough independent people around the council table to deliver for residents.
We will put Wellingtonians first, and with Ray Chung for Mayor, can cauterise the financial bleeding.
To find out more about Independent Together and our five pillars go to https://voteforit.nz/
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