Another Ashburton District Council candidate has expressed her disapproval of Government-enforced mandates, but she has no allegiance to a controversial freedom movement organisation.
She’s Brie Burgess, who is looking to bring a younger voice to the council table as one of five Ashburton ward councillors.
While Burgess said she holds an anti-mandate stance, it was wrong and incorrect that people should automatically align her to Voices For Freedom (VFF), which is an anti-vaccination anti-mandate group that nationally has said it wants to make the country “ungovernable” and was standing candidates in local body elections.
Burgess’ only beef was around mandates.
“I don’t believe in the mandates,’’ she said.
“I adhered to them, and I believe the Government thought they did what was best for the country, but I personally don’t think someone should lose their job because they don’t want to stick a vaccine in their bodies.
“People have the choice to decide what goes into their bodies.”
Fellow Ashburton ward, and also a Braided Rivers Community Trust candidate, Shfire Sapphire, echoed a similar response at Sunday’s meet the candidate session.
Sapphire stated she was anti-mandate, pro-choice, and believed in “true democracy”.
“I follow VFF on social media, I also follow operation people and Chantelle Baker,” Sapphire said.
“I am very open about who I follow.’’
Baker is a prominent anti-mandate protester, who was recently booted from Facebook after allegedly sharing harmful disinformation to her platform.
“I want to hear all sides, look at the resources myself, and I’ll make my own decision on what I think,’’ Sapphire said.
Of Ashburton’s 21 council and mayoral candidates, only one candidate declared an affiliation or membership to a political party.
That was Richard Wilson, an Eastern ward candidate, who is a member of the National Party.
No candidates declared they were members of the VFF group, but Ashburton mayoral candidate Jeff Swindley has declined to comment in relation to his bid where he is standing against incumbent Neil Brown.
“I have no desire to enter into contact with your publication,” Swindley said.
Earlier this year Swindley, frustrated by Covid-19 restrictions, had threatened to take the New Zealand Government to court for $5 million.
WorkSafe New Zealand confirmed his business, the Bald Barber, had been issued with a $4000 infringement notice on February 28 for not displaying a sign indicating if the business was operating under vaccination or non-vaccination rules.
A Worksafe spokesperson said that the infringement notice was then transferred to the Ministry of Justice after an extended period of non-payment.
In the meantime, Swindley re-established his Bald Barber business as a private society, where the customers became members by signing a contract.
Swindley’s wife, Mari, was an active participant in VFF online forums, discussing the changes to the business to side-step the restrictions.
Members of the society were not required to comply with the Covid-19 restrictions that are associated with close contract services.
Worksafe said that was not the case.
“If the business is still operating under a regulated category, they must meet those requirements regardless of what they label themselves as,” the spokesperson said.
Mayor Brown listed his membership of the Rakaia Squash Club, which he said would be unlikely to create a conflict of interest.

• By Jonathan Leask