logo
Retired Pharmacist And Business Owner, David Ross, Selected As ACT Local Candidate For Motueka Ward

Retired Pharmacist And Business Owner, David Ross, Selected As ACT Local Candidate For Motueka Ward

Scoop24-06-2025
ACT Local has selected David Ross a retired pharmacist, business owner, and long-time rural healthcare advocate, as its candidate for the Motueka Ward for the Tasman District Council in this year's local election.
After more than four decades in healthcare, business, and rural advocacy, Mahana local Dave Ross has put his name forward to represent the Motueka community on the Tasman District Council.
A retired pharmacist and experienced business owner, Dave has long been involved in rural healthcare and governance. He and his wife have lived on their lifestyle block in Mahana for the past 20 years, and raised three children — now with three grandchildren of their own.
He says the decision to stand came from a desire to see greater accountability and real consultation in local government.
'I'm standing for the Tasman District Council because our community deserves to be heard,not sidelined by bureaucracy or ideology. After years in pharmacy, business, and health advocacy, I know what it takes to listen, to lead, and to deliver results. I want to bring that experience to the table and help make sure ratepayers are treated with the respect they deserve.' – David Ross
Earlier this year, ACT New Zealand announced it would be standing Common Sense Candidates for local government for the first time — after hearing from New Zealanders across the country who are sick of rising rates, ballooning budgets, and councils that ignore the basics while chasing ideological vanity projects.
When you vote ACT Local, you know what you're getting:
ACT Local Government spokesperson Cameron Luxton says:
' ACT Local candidates are community-minded Kiwis who've had enough of wasteful councils treating ratepayers like ATMs. It's time to take control on behalf of ratepayers — to restore accountability and deliver real value for money. ACT Local is about getting the basics right: maintaining roads, keeping streets clean, and respecting the people who pay the bills. Our candidates won't divide people by race or get distracted by climate vanity projects. They're here to serve, not lecture."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

A prescription for dismay, disbelief
A prescription for dismay, disbelief

Otago Daily Times

time2 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

A prescription for dismay, disbelief

Everything is going up. The costs of butter, milk and cheese, fruit and vegetables, rents, rates and electricity are rising, some of them faster than belief. Annual inflation has lifted to 2.7%, according to the consumer price index. There can be no doubt New Zealanders are grappling with the escalating cost of living. The government says it is all about cutting costs for Kiwis, something we have seen with its policies and its energetic drive to cut the public service and put thousands of skilled workers out of jobs. However, despite its much-vaunted approach to trim things, some of which didn't need much pruning, the coalition is still releasing big pots of money for projects which have its favour and tickle its fancy, or the fancies of its cadres. As a consequence of that favouritism, something else is going up. Advice be blowed, let's have a third medical school in New Zealand at a time when the government has been doing everything it can to minimise the importance of, and squeeze the life out of, Dunedin's desperately needed new hospital. Until Monday afternoon's announcement that the University of Waikato's persistent and somewhat personal bid for a medical school had been approved, there had been perhaps a hope that surely common sense might prevail and the government wouldn't, after all, go along with the proposal. Such sanguine thinking, however, was always held in check by the knowledge that this government has already shown several times that logic, facts and evidence to the contrary will not stop it supporting something which it is hell-bent on delivering for its followers. At the heart of Waikato's proposal was something few could disagree with — that the country urgently needs to do something about the state and delivery of rural healthcare. Access to timely and effective medical services for those communities has been a big concern for many years, one which has only continued to grow. But does it take a spanking new medical school costing several hundred million dollars, and growing, to ensure rural targets will be met? No. There is no reason why the medical schools at the University of Otago and the University of Auckland could not have been funded to train more doctors at a significantly lower cost than launching a new school, a point they clearly made to the government. Even the Treasury advised against the wisdom of proceeding with this pet project, as did the Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission, warning that the expense, the duplication and the logistical challenges raised red flags for them. In spite of that, the government and Waikato University forged on regardless. Health Minister Simeon Brown announced a development with costs which have changed significantly from those pledged by the National Party before the last election. Then, National said it would provide $280 million for the new school and the university would need to find $100m. Now, the government will disburse $82.85m towards it, and Waikato will have to stump up more than $150m. The final cost, of course, is bound to be higher than current expectations. A lot has been written about links between National and the university and its vice-chancellor Neil Quigley, and also with consultant Steven Joyce, a former National government minister. Without getting too deeply into that, we are concerned that this is little more than an overt example of pork-barrel politics. We are also troubled and disappointed, yet again, at the lack of transparency around the government's decision-making, particularly over health matters. Whenever it makes pronouncements which it knows are likely to be contentious, the accompanying documents seem to take ages to surface — if they ever do. That in itself probably speaks volumes about the consideration of the evidence. It's difficult to stay calm and reasoned and attempt to rise above the feeling this government cares not a jot for the South. When one sees what a charmed life this Waikato proposal has apparently had through the coalition's approval process, and compare that with the absolute shambles it has promulgated with the new Dunedin hospital and its obvious level of disinterest in the project, it is hard to remain philosophical. Once again, this government has let us down.

Healthworkers want MPs to waive private healthcare while in office
Healthworkers want MPs to waive private healthcare while in office

1News

time6 hours ago

  • 1News

Healthworkers want MPs to waive private healthcare while in office

A group of healthworkers — including specialists, GPs, nurses and paramedics — have signed an open letter to MPs asking them to waive private healthcare during their time in office. Politicians making critical decisions about the public health system system — to cut funding, defer maintenance, or implement restructures — should not be allowed to "insulate" themselves against the consequences, they write. Their prescription? All MPs — and the families of Cabinet ministers — should rely on the public system. The group's spokesperson, Northland cardiologist Marcus Lee, said the public deserved leaders who were so committed to public healthcare that they were willing to stake their family's wellbeing on it. ADVERTISEMENT "Essentially, we want fair and transparent leadership with integrity. We want people who have skin in the game." The test was whether politicians were "comfortable and confident" enough to rely on the public health system for their families, he said. "If it's good for them, it's good for us. If it's not good enough for them, it shouldn't be good enough for anyone." Nicola Willis and Simeon Brown in 2020 (Source: Getty) The letter asks MPs to consider questions including: Would I be comfortable with my child waiting six months for this procedure? Is this emergency department adequate for my elderly parent? Are these staffing levels sufficient for my family's safety? Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not believe having private health insurance meant he was out of touch with the problems besetting the public system. ADVERTISEMENT "I think we're well aware of the challenges in the healthcare system, which is why we've put a record amount of investment in," he said. "We inherited again a botched merger that just created a layer of bureaucracy and we've put the money in, we're hiring more people, we've got clarity on the targets. "We're starting to see some stabilisation of those targets and in some cases improvements on those health targets. "But we now need a high performing Health NZ, and that's what we're fixated on." Labour's health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall said MPs with private health insurance were "betting their own money against the public system". "Ministers of Health should place a bet on the public health system succeeding and meeting New Zealanders' needs. Having private health insurance is a sign that you're not willing to place that bet." Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins — a former health minister — took a less hard-line approach. "I got health insurance 20 or 30 years ago as a union membership benefit and I've kept it since then, although I'm fortunate I haven't really had to use it. "I'm not going to begrudge people who have it. But I want to make sure that, if you haven't, you still get the standard of care you deserve." Health Minister Simeon Brown said he did not have private health insurance but he would not impose that choice on anyone else. "Ultimately there's a large number of New Zealanders who use health insurance, that's a fantastic part of our health system, and ultimately people make individual choices." Brown said his focus was on timely access to quality healthcare for New Zealanders, which included making better use of the private sector. "We will work with private hospitals to unlock capacity, publicly funded [patients] but in private hospitals to speed up access." ADVERTISEMENT Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Education Minister Erica Stanford both had private health insurance. Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey did not, saying he is "happy using the public health system". Other National MPs were more coy. Minister of Climate Change, Energy, Local Government and Revenue, Simon Watts: "I won't answer that, it's a personal question." Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Disability Issues, Social Development and Employment, Louise Upston: "That's not a question in the public interest." Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford: "I'm not interested in talking about that. It's not necessary for people to know — I don't go out into the general street and ask people about their health insurance." Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March said it was "quite rich" to see politicians not being worried about the state of the public healthcare system, when they had the means to pay for private insurance or private care. ADVERTISEMENT "That is why we are really concerned with the Government's flirtation with privatising more of our public healthcare system, which will ultimately see our poorest less able to access basic healthcare." For some Labour MPs, it was a matter of principle. Kelston MP Carmel Sepuloni: "I believe, as politicians, if we're going to be working to ensure the healthcare system works for everyone, we should be reliant on it too." Nelson MP Rachel Boyack: "My father was a public health chief executive so I've always had a strong belief in the public health system, and that the health system should be available to all New Zealanders, and that includes me as an MP." Mt Albert MP Helen White could understand why some people opted to have it, but it was not for her: "I just think that I should live by my principles. Also I probably couldn't afford it. I know I'm on a decent salary, but it's a lot of money." Mt Albert MP Helen White says she probably couldn't afford health insurance. (Source: 1News) Labour MP Ginny Andersen said health insurance was not in her budget: "By the time I pay my mortgage and my insurance and my rates and feed my children." ADVERTISEMENT ACT Party leader David Seymour, who is also the Associate Health Minister, said the healthworkers made "an interesting argument" — but, in his view, MPs should come from a broad range of backgrounds. "I don't think you should have to fit into a sort of ideological straight-jacket to do that." The healthworkers behind the letter said MPs who refused to give up their private safety net would be revealing "exactly what they really think about our healthcare system". "We'll be watching to see who has the courage to put their family where their policies are."

Civil contracting future ‘bright', PM Christopher Luxon tells Tauranga conference
Civil contracting future ‘bright', PM Christopher Luxon tells Tauranga conference

NZ Herald

time11 hours ago

  • NZ Herald

Civil contracting future ‘bright', PM Christopher Luxon tells Tauranga conference

'Another half a billion dollars worth of local government projects are also getting under way this year, including five projects here in Tauranga,' Luxon told the conference. He said the national infrastructure pipeline showed planned future projects across central and local government, and the private sector, totalling $207b. This was nearly $40,000 per person and $116,000 per household. 'For every $1b of infrastructure investment per year, that generates about 4500 jobs.' He said as work got under way on these projects, there would be 'real jobs and real opportunities' for thousands of Kiwis, and added momentum for economic recovery. 'We have turned the corner and the future for civil construction in New Zealand is bright.' Luxon said this was great news for the civil construction sector. 'We need the work to get done. We need action, we need shovels in the ground.' He did not give details of the five Tauranga projects when asked by the Bay of Plenty Times after his speech and said the Government would talk about these 'in due course'. He said a number of projects in Bay of Plenty were 'on the fast track'. Twelve Bay of Plenty projects have been listed to follow the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 process. Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford (left), Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Civil Contractors Conference. Photo / Kaitlyn Morrell Luxon said growth problems had been challenging for Tauranga. 'It's a region that should do exceptionally well with a Government that wants to streamline the resource management process and get fast-track projects up and running.' Tauranga was a growing economic powerhouse for New Zealand. 'That growth needs to have quality, modern and reliable infrastructure around it as well.' Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced at the conference that half a billion dollars worth of local government projects will be under way this year, including five in Tauranga. Photos / Kaitlyn Morrell Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale addressed the conference and said Tauranga continued to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. He said a well-formed regional deal should be a game-changer, not just for the Bay of Plenty but as a model for others across the country. 'We are investing heavily to keep pace with growth.' He said the current long-term plan included $500m in annual capital expenditure for the next 10 years. Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale is looking forward to faster, more efficient consenting for projects. Photo / Alisha Evans 'A significant proportion of this is dedicated to horizontal infrastructure.' He was encouraged by the Government's work to reform the Resource Management Act (RMA). 'Faster, more efficient consenting is something we can all look forward to and it will help bring costs down.' Developments in the Bay of Plenty included the Takatimu North Link, SH29 Tauriko-Ōmanawa Bridge and Te Tumu new housing area in Pāpāmoa East. Drysdale said the SH29 project would unlock industrial land, enable4000 new homes in the medium-term and support about 3000 new jobs. 'Infrastructure is too expensive in this country and we need to find ways of delivering more for less.' Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) president David Howard said the past year in the infrastructure industry had not been easy. 'I feel it's been a bit of a triple-whammy with central government cutting costs, new regulations coming in and councils rethinking their funding.' He said he remained hopeful that CCNZ had worked hard to get in front of the right decision-makers to explain the industry's needs. 'It's not easy to get Government attention, but we've made progress.' Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store