'Cost of living is out the gate': A night at NZ's most remote election debate

Just over a century after Chatham Islanders were first granted the right to vote, their political candidates finally made the journey to see them in a historic campaign first. 

On Thursday night, about 40 of New Zealand’s most isolated voters packed into a hall in the country’s most remote community to hear from the candidates hoping to represent their interests more than 800km away in Parliament. 

It is believed to be the first time the Chatham Islands has hosted a political debate for a general election. 

The remote archipelago sits east of the South Island, in the Southern Pacific Ocean, and takes about two hours to reach by plane. 

Despite its distance, the community is part of the Wellington Bays electorate, formerly Rongotai. 

The debate, hosted by comedian and television personality Te Radar, covered a spectrum of political issues, and saw calls for a referendum on independence from New Zealand, to near consensus from the candidates on Government support to excavate the remains of a recently discovered waka on the island. 

“For a community like ours, being geographically isolated can sometimes mean feeling physically and occasionally politically a long way from the mainland,” Chathams Mayor Greg Horler said, kicking off the evening. 

Chatham Islands locals turned out to hear from (left to right) incumbent MP Julie Anne Genter, Labour's Craig Renney, Act's Nicole McKee, Opportunity's Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, NZF's Gerald Warner, and National's Karuna Muthu. 

While some locals refer to the rest of the country as the “mainland”, many others don’t identify as Kiwis at all and simply call it New Zealand. 

About 600 people live on the island and 160 voted at the last election. 

The island’s voter behaviour largely mirrors that of the rest of the country, although New Zealand First enjoyed an impressive 17% of the vote in 2023, raking in 27 votes. 

That support wasn’t shown for current candidate Gerald Warner, however, with many the Herald spoke to after the debate not sold on his performance, due to the party’s position on seabed mining, a contentious topic on the island. 

The night started with a pledge from Act candidate and current Minister Nicole McKee to “slash and cut back [spending] on the mainland” to allow islanders to keep more of their tax dollars, which was quickly rebutted by Genter. 

Labour’s Craig Renney spoke about the fact that 91 octane unleaded petrol is $4.50 per litre on the Chathams, “we think things are expensive in New Zealand on the mainland, but things are expensive really here”. 

Cost of living was a major concern for many the Herald spoke to – a browse through the general store shows essentials like a tin of tomatoes cost $5.50, compared to about $2.10 at the average supermarket across the water, and a 24 pack of Speights sits at $85, more than double the price in the mainland. 

Glennis Day, a retiree who has lived on the island for 54 years, said the price for essentials has become unsustainable. 

“Things have gotten so expensive,” she said, “the cost of living is out the gate”. 

Prices on the Chatham Islands can be more than double that of goods in mainland New Zealand. 

National’s Karuna Muthu spoke next, saying the key to prosperity on the Chathams is more hard work, “with hard work we can create a strong economy”. 

Warner listed off New Zealand First’s core values, followed by its achievements for the islands, which include support through the Provincial Growth Fund and Regional Infrastructure Fund for popular investments like a new ship and wharf. 

Next to speak was The Opportunity Party’s Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb. Introduced as a “TOP candidate”, Bebb clarified the party had undergone what she called “a failed rebrand”, “but we’re working hard”, she said. 

Bebb said Opportunity’s position of bipartisanship on key issues of health and infrastructure would allow for a better strategy to help the island. 

One of the biggest cheers from the audience came when moderator Radar suggested the islands become independent, to serve as a tax haven. 

“I mean you’re pretty close to the Cayman Islands,” he joked. 

But one local was not joking when later calling for a referendum on the issue of independence, saying successive governments have “taken, billions and billions and billions from our island and our waters,” but not invested enough in return. 

A later question was asked about a proposal to mine for phosphorite on the seabed of the Chatham Rise, a project currently being considered under the Government’s Fast-track. 

All candidates, except Warner, said they opposed seabed mining, including McKee, to the surprise of some fellow candidates. 

“Yes, we want to dig up the land because there’s money in there and we can all benefit from being able to sell off that, but nobody benefits from killing our fisheries,” she said. 

Another local issue is education. With no secondary school, many locals have to shell out for boarding school in Wellington for their children. 

But a suggestion volunteered from both Warner and Muthu that a secondary school be built on the Chathams was met with impassioned opposition from those who felt the candidates did not understand their community, which they said was too small to sustain a high school. 

“Should’ve done your research, sorry mate,” someone heckled to Muthu. 

Conversation later turned to the remains of a 15th-century waka found on a local Chatham Islands beach in 2024, thought to be the oldest known artefact of its kind in New Zealand history. 

Much of it remains in the ground protected by sandbags, with no Government funding committed to further excavation and conservation. 

“I have spoken with Shane Jones,” Warner revealed to the crowd, “and New Zealand First will make a commitment to try and find funding for the uplift of that waka and the preservation of that waka.” 

“That’s a commitment that New Zealand First is making.” 

The waka dig site on the Chatham Islands. 

That pledge prompted consensus from all the candidates to push for funding for the waka’s conservation if elected, pleasing the crowd. 

McKee strongly condemned the lack of action from the Government on the issue, calling the current situation “disgusting”, “wrong”, and “quite shocking”. 

Speaking to the Herald, Ajay Ataera, a young creative on the island, said he was “super optimistic” about the future, but said there are plenty of challenges facing the community, including many feeling they are unable to afford to live on their land. 

After the debate, Ataera said he was impressed with Renney’s pitch. 

Jack Damon, a farmer, said “some of the Greens’ ideas are not too bad”. 

He said the Chathams has been on a “pretty big downhill slide” and was faring worse than the mainland on key issues like infrastructure and the economy. 

Chatham Islands farmer Jack Damon said he was concerned about a seabed mining proposal off the coast of the island. 

He was concerned about Treaty and environmental issues, saying the impact of seabed mining on the island’s fisheries posed a risk. 

Despite its tiny voting population, the Chathams has not always followed the wider electorate’s voting pattern. 

At the 2023 election, Labour candidate Fleur Fitzsimons won the most candidate votes on the islands, followed by National’s Karuna Muthu, New Zealand First’s Geoff Mills and Act’s Nicole McKee. Genter was fifth. 

With Genter and Renney tied in an earlier poll showing a knife-edge race, the votes from the Chathams could hold the balance of power for who wins the race to represent the unique community after November’s election. 

Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz. 

Ethan Manera travelled to the Chatham Islands with the support of Air Chathams.