Hugh O’Neill
Turn this ship around. A Scottish seafarer of Irish descent, Dunedin has been the best home from home. It is time to repay that debt. Like Dunedin’s seaborne founders, I value family, education, common sense and integrity. For seafarers, integrity means the ability to remain afloat. Ships manage and maintain all services and utilities. Our DCC ship is labouring under a massive debt burden.
Whilst Captain of UK and Irish sailing ships, I trained 7,000 individuals to become efficient and happy crews. We ran tight budgets and balanced the books. For the next 22 years, first in London then Otago, I piloted ships in difficult harbours. Otago Pilots guide billion dollar ships, bigger than the stadium, with thousands on board. Pilots guide ships’ crews to successful outcomes.
We are all on the same ship. As crew, we can turn this DCC ship around and let Dunedin flourish. Join the crew.
Vote Captain Hugh. captainhugh.nz
Hugh O’Neill – Credo
“One man can make a difference, and everyone should try” (Jackie Kennedy)
In a representative democracy, it would be unrealistic to expect that my values and beliefs will coincide precisely with anyone else’s. However, diversity of opinion is a strength: it enriches debate and provokes more critical thinking. There is always more that unites us than divides us. But irrespective of my own views, local government must remain tightly focused on local services, ensuring maximum efficiency and best value. We must stick to our core business, and not get distracted.
There is well-deserved lack of trust in many institutions because of hidden agendas, obfuscations, and conflicts of interest. There is zero accountability for faceless, unelected and highly-paid bureaucrats. The cure requires political courage, integrity and transparency. Those are the values I stand for: I have no hidden agenda.
As an exercise in transparency, I here below set out my views and beliefs. I do not ask anyone to share these views. Rather, I would hope that others might see this gesture as an act of faith. Evil triumphs when good men remain silent, and I cannot in conscience remain silent. To quote Martin Luther: “Here I stand. I can do no other”.
1. As a Scottish immigrant of Irish descent, I am proud to say that I am a New Zealander. My ancestors suffered 800 years of oppression and injustice: I embody their hopes for a better world for our children, and I am the benefactor of their endurance. The Gaelic culture and experience has much in common with Maori.
2. Christian values are my inheritance: these include love, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, courage, humility. I believe in the sanctity of life from the moment of conception. I believe that Mothers with babies deserve our highest protection.
3. I support women’s right to equality of opportunity and salary.
4. I endorse the UK Supreme Court’s definition of woman as a biological female.
5. Families are the building blocks of society. We are all family.
6. I strongly support the 1990 Bill of Rights Act (without any exemption clauses).
7. I believe (as BORA claims) in freedom of speech. The concept of “Hate laws” and “Hate crime” is an insidious form of censorship and a symptom of totalitarianism. I believe in courtesy and respect. We can always agree to disagree.
8. As a lifelong pacifist, I abhor violence in all its manifestations.
9. I salute the founders of Dunedin for their belief in education – hence the first University in NZ. Education is neither indoctrination nor political football. Let children be children. Let teachers teach. Home-schooling too is very important.
10.I believe in government of the people, for the people and by the people.
11.No one has a monopoly of truth, and any such claim must be challenged.
12.As President John F. Kennedy said: “…we all share the same small planet. We breathe the same air. We cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal…”