Cost of living, youth drain, and marine protection dominate final Nelson debate

Last election, less than 30 votes separated the top two candidates in Nelson.

On election night, it looked like National's Blair Cameron was going to be Nelson's MP. He was out in front with a 54 vote lead, but Labour's Rachel Boyack claimed the victory with a 26 vote lead after an official recount. It could be a different story this election, if the new talent running for Opportunity and the Green Party split the left vote.

At the last debate before election night hosted by the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce and the Blue House, candidates had a final chance to make their case to an audience of around 80 people gathered at the Tides Hotel in Nelson.

Cameron said despite losing the seat, he'd worked hard over the last three years to advocate for the electorate while continuing his work remotely for the World Bank.

"Every single one of our national cabinet ministers has visited Nelson over the last three years and I've put a lot of time and effort to make that happen, that's what I've done in my spare time, he told the audience of around 80 people gathered at the Tides Hotel in Nelson.

"If I'm your MP, that'll be my job."

He said he wanted to see Nelson become a more attractive place for young people.

"My goal, if I get to be your MP, is to shift the perception of our region from somewhere that's just a nice place to retire to somewhere where it's an exciting place for young people to start their careers. I want 18 to 35 year olds to look at our region and think, Nelson Tasman, that's somewhere where I want to build my future."

Boyack said in the last three years, life had become more expensive and access to healthcare more difficult.

"Every person I speak to talks to about the challenges they're facing with the increase in the cost of fuel, the increase in the cost of groceries, increase in the cost of doing business. All of these things that are affecting business and also everyday working, ordinary people in New Zealand, many of whom are now having to rely on food banks to be able to feed themselves and their families. "

The conversation turned to the fishing sector and Boyack said while Labour was open to phasing out bottom trawling, an outright ban would be devastating for the region.

"We do have to address the impacts of bottom trawling, there's no doubt about that and it can cause absolute devastation on some of the most precious parts of our ocean. Our policy is to put limits on bottom trawling and over time, we are very open to having that conversation around what a phase-out would look like. "

Opportunity's Nelson candidate Jodie Kuntzsch has spent the last 20 years working in the seafood and aquaculture sectors and said it was possible to find a balance between sustainability and innovation, and there were business in the region that had proved that.

"You can have a resilient sustainable marine environment and have thriving innovative high-value businesses and support our community to have natural resilience along the coast and support our cultural and recreational practices."

At number six on the list, Kuntzsch will make it into Parliament if the party gets over the 5 percent threshold.

MC and Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ali Boswijk asked the candidates how they would deal with coalition partners making public statements that conflicted with their party's values.

She cited NZ First candidate Ron Mark's recent comments blaming 'woke b******t' for the HMNZ Manawanui sinking.

Green candidate Rohan O-Neill-Stevens, the city's former deputy mayor said that behaviour had not just begun during the election campaign.

"We have had senior ministers, we have had our deputy prime minister say horrific things, racist and sexist things, and not be called out on it at all.

"To me your values, if you don't stand up for them, aren't your values."

O-Neill-Stevens said his time on council meant he was used to working with people of all stripes, including mayor Nick Smith, with whom he disagreed on things, but the two had worked well together as they had mutual respect for one another's values.

"I think fundamentally if you believe in something, you have to stand up for it, you have to fight for it and that doesn't compromise your ability to work collaboratively."

At 16 on the Green Party list, O-Neill-Stevens has also got a good shot of making it into Parliament.

ACT candidate Chris Baillie encouraged people to party vote ACT, but made it clear he wasn't seeking a return to Parliament.

"I've spent three years up in Wellington and I think you're all mad if you want to go back there. But we need to continue the way we're going.

"ACT is committed to reducing the size of government, making it much more manageable. New Zealand has a spending problem, not necessarily a tax problem."

The latest polling shows at least three of the Nelson politicians could take a seat in the next Parliament.