Rangitīkei Electorate
- Location where the Show is being Filmed – Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō (Levin Community Centre)
- Date of the show – 4pm – Monday 12th October 2026
- Times to arrive – 3:30pm
- Broadcast starts at 4pm and finishes at 6pm or near
- Books your tickets here
- Submit your questions here – We will select the best questions for the show
Candidates who are Standing
This section enables candidates to display their contact information to allow voters easy access to candidates information in one place.
Submit your candidate information here – this does not commit attendance to ‘It’s in the Ballot’ show – It lets voters know who is standing for their Electorate.
Steve Gibson – New Zealand First
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- Steve.gibson@nzfirst.nz
Bernard Long – Green Party of Aotearoa NZ
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Karl Severinsen – Labour
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Questions that are in the Shows Boxes
- What specific measures would you support to reduce the cost of living and ease financial pressure on New Zealand households?
- What is your position on government ownership or nationalisation of essential services and businesses? What criteria would you use to decide when government ownership is appropriate, and would these apply equally to banking, airlines and supermarkets?
- What is your view on central government requiring councils to undertake activities without providing the necessary funding, particularly while proposing to cap council rates increases at a maximum of 4%?
- The Government is proposing consultation on changes to Homekill regulations. Currently, an animal must be in its owner’s care for at least 28 days before slaughter to allow drench residues to clear. Would you support retaining or changing this requirement, and why?
- Are New Zealand’s current immigration settings sustainable given pressures on housing, infrastructure, public services and jobs? If not, what would you change?
- Should qualified New Zealand-trained graduates, such as nurses, be prioritised for jobs when suitable applicants are available? How would you balance this with trade and immigration commitments?
- Should the Government do more to make essential goods more affordable, protect local businesses and jobs, and ensure economic growth benefits ordinary New Zealanders?
- Should public signage and communications use English, te reo Māori or both?
- Do modern Treaty principles reflect the original Treaty of Waitangi? Should Parliament define or entrench these principles in law?
- Can New Zealand promote diversity and inclusion while maintaining equal citizenship and applying the law equally to everyone? How?
- Should the Government do more to tackle high prices for essential goods, particularly where large companies have significant market power? What would you do?
- Should the rules for receiving New Zealand Superannuation and the Supported Living Payment overseas be reviewed to make the system fairer?
- Would you fully fund disability support services, including support for carers and family carers, and ensure public spending is transparent?
- Does your party recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi and value the Māori cultural renaissance? How would this be reflected in your policies and actions?
- With AI, automation, robotics and biotechnology set to transform jobs, education and healthcare by 2032, where is New Zealand least prepared, and what would you do in your first term?
- Should legislation require decommissioning bonds or financial guarantees for large solar and battery developments on agricultural land to ensure safe removal and disposal?
- Do you support community water fluoridation, and would you back an independent review of the latest evidence on its dental benefits and potential health risks?
- Who should provide affordable rental housing for people who earn too much for subsidised housing but struggle with market rents, and what role should government play?
- Which of the five largest political parties would your party be least willing to form a coalition with, and why?
- If your policies aim to lower grocery prices, where would the savings come from, and why target Foodstuffs rather than Woolworths or other concentrated industries?
- What drives inequality and the growing wealth gap in New Zealand, and what policies would you support to reduce it?
- Should professional regulators be able to punish nurses, teachers or lawyers for lawful opinions expressed in their personal time?
- Would you support a law requiring politicians and candidates for public office to tell the truth in Parliament and in public?
- How would you ensure people experiencing homelessness can enrol and vote without a permanent address, phone or reliable access to someone who can provide an address?
- Would you support stronger election advertising rules to prevent false or misleading claims and hold candidates and parties accountable?
- Would you replace the Ministry of Education with an independent education authority focused on outcomes and free from day-to-day political influence?
- Why are you contesting this electorate, how seriously are you campaigning to win, and what time and resources are you committing regardless of the outcome?
- Does your party support banning the sale of fireworks?
Hard-hitting Questions
HHQ1. Rangitīkei faces a growing shortage of healthcare providers, particularly GPs. What specific actions would you take to attract and retain healthcare professionals and improve access to healthcare across the district?
HHQ2. What priority would you give to providing reliable, well-connected public transport for Horowhenua residents, with services north to Palmerston North and south to Wellington?
Highlight Videos from the Night
More to come
