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Carolyn Minnée
A bungle over paperwork has ended the chances of Advance NZ party candidate Carolyn Minnée standing for Kaipara ki Mahurangi in the General Election.
Ms Minnée, says she has been “walking around feeling gut punched” after she found out about the mishap on September 17, exactly one month before the election is due to take place.
“It’s one of those stupid mistakes that cannot be undone,” she says.
Nevertheless, Ms Minnée says she will continue to campaign to halt the proposed landfill in the Dome Valley and for the introduction of waste-to-energy technology in its place.
“Sometimes these things happen for a reason. One door shuts and another door opens.”
Ms Minnée says her husband, former mayoral hopeful Peter Vaughan, who was due to stand as the Advance NZ candidate in Upper Harbour, has resigned his candidacy in the wake of the bureaucratic snafu.
“He felt so gutted for me,” she says.
Ms Minnée blames the Advance NZ party for mishandling her paperwork, but party leader Jami-Lee Ross denies this.
Mr Ross says there were many deficiencies in nominated Advance NZ candidates’ forms. When the Electoral Commission told the party of the shortcomings, candidates were advised and asked to remedy them.
He says while all other candidates were able to remedy their forms to the Electoral Commission’s satisfaction in a swift manner, this was not true in the case of Ms Minnée.
“Ultimately, candidates are responsible for being able to read forms and fill them out correctly,” he says.
Despite the setback, Ms Minnée still plans to vote Advance NZ, saying she believes in the principles it stands for.
