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A full hall for Meet the Candidates
Just over 120 people filled West End Hall for the evening.
Just over 120 people filled West End Hall on Wednesday 21 October for the Rotary Club of Timaru North's Meet the Candidates evening — the final forum of the campaign in the Rangitata electorate.
Six of the eight candidates standing in Rangitata spoke for ten minutes each: Matt Harris (The Opportunities Party), Sange Malama (Labour), James Meager (National), Isaac Nicholson (New Zealand First), Dave Richards (Green) and Karl Thomas (Conservative). Apologies were received from Aaron Allred (ACT) and Kevin McCracken (NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party).
The six candidates line up for the press photographer.
Immigration, the cost of living and education were the evening's recurring themes, both in the candidates' own remarks and in the questions put to them.
Photographs from the evening are in our Meet the Candidates album.
The same terms for everyone
Every candidate nominated for Rangitata was invited on identical terms, and the order of speaking was drawn from a hat at the start of the meeting so that no one held the advantage of going first or last. Each had the same ten minutes, with warnings at two minutes and one minute and a firm finish at ten. Questions from the public were drawn at random. Afterwards, each candidate had their own space in the hall, and a good number of people stayed on to talk with them one to one.
Coordinator and MC Rod Sparrow kept the evening to time.
Rod Sparrow kept the evening running to schedule and had to call the room to order only once. “Let's just make sure we show respect to the candidates,” he told attendees — and the rest of the evening passed in good spirit.
Why the club does this
The Rotary Club of Timaru North is apolitical. We don't support any candidate, party or issue that might affect the outcome of an election. What we can offer is a neutral room, a fair format and an evening where voters get to hear from everyone standing and ask their own questions — in person, without a filter.
It is the second year running that this event has filled West End Hall, following the 2025 local body forum. On both occasions the message has been the same: people want the chance to look their prospective representatives in the eye before they mark a voting paper.
Club secretary Harley Smithson packing up at the end of the night.
Our thanks go to the candidates who gave up an evening in the busiest fortnight of their campaigns, to the West End Hall, to the members who set up and ran the night, and to everyone who came along. The donations collected at the door go towards the club's community projects.
The evening was reported in The Timaru Herald: Rangitata voters urged to think to the future when deciding on who to vote for, by Rachael Comer and Brooke Black.
Jeremy Hogan chatting with H2H team member Geoff Cloake about this year’s promotional arrangements.
Timaru, 7910
New Zealand