“Cuts That I Knew... Were Going To Kill People” | Dave Bainbridge-Zafar, Opportunity

Dave Bainbridge-Zafar is Opportunity's spokesperson for transport, housing and infrastructure, number eight on the party list, and its candidate in Dunedin. He spent his New Zealand career as a public servant: in property at the Dunedin City Council, then running infrastructure for Health NZ across the southern region, and now as a general manager at the Gore District Council. He told us he left Health NZ because he couldn't sign off on cuts he believed would cost lives. With free public transport now in Opportunity's costings, we started with the obvious question for the man who pushed for it: did he change the party, or did the party change him? We get into Chris Bishop's mega-ministry and why he thinks bigger government is less efficient, New Zealand's 40mm walls and the passive house standard, the 16 Kāinga Ora homes that cleared Gore's social housing waitlist, the 12-year New Dunedin Hospital build and the $20 valves that need replacing every five years, why 60% of infrastructure spending should go on maintenance, and why he turned down a ribbon cutting for an unfinished maternity ward. Plus fast-track, free fares versus better buses, Roads of National Significance, a five-hour wait for an ambulance, the five bottom lines and a universal basic income, co-governance, NZ First and the Peters/Davidson comparison, why he doesn't expect to win Dunedin, the old hospital site, Warmer Kiwi Homes for student flats, and why he calls standing a "reluctant civil duty". 0:00:00 Did he change the party, or did the party change him? How free buses became Opportunity policy 0:02:27 From council property to Health NZ: why he quit rather than sign off on cuts 0:04:50 The UK vs New Zealand: ACC, broken hips, and a Danish student's view of our elections 0:06:53 Working with the right: "You must be this high to ride", and who he's voted for 0:10:02 Chris Bishop's mega-ministry: why bigger government isn't more efficient 0:11:52 His first priority as an MP: 40mm walls and the passive house standard 0:15:37 Can we afford warmer houses? Energy bills and a building code "half as good" 0:18:58 Who should build affordable housing? A millionaire losing $100k a house, and inclusionary zoning 0:21:19 The 16 Kāinga Ora homes that cleared Gore's social housing waitlist 0:22:43 What politicians get wrong about infrastructure: a 12-year hospital build 0:24:25 Why 60% of infrastructure spending should go on maintenance 0:25:50 Ribbon cuttings: why he refused to open an unfinished maternity ward 0:27:04 His real role at the New Dunedin Hospital, and the $20 valves 0:28:57 Life-cycle costs and fast-track: "If you create a fast lane, you've created a slow lane" 0:30:57 One transport project: maintenance, buses, cycleways, or new roads? 0:32:29 Used car imports, Norway's EVs, and banning new petrol cars by 2040 0:35:45 What he wouldn't fund: Roads of National Significance, and sealed roads going back to gravel 0:38:07 We don't pay for the services we want: volunteer ambulances and a five-hour wait 0:40:59 Free fares or better buses? Plus intensification and citizens' assemblies 0:43:29 Why vote Opportunity: "You're going to lose half the time" 0:45:39 Evidence over popularity, and what he'd repeal from this government and the last 0:48:24 The five bottom lines, UBI, and why the Treaty isn't one 0:52:00 Co-governance: "A bit of a bogeyman" 0:54:00 NZ First, and the centrist voters Opportunity wants 0:55:52 Peters vs Davidson: does Opportunity hold both to the same standard? 0:58:36 Dunedin: "I don't expect to win", and bringing graduates home 1:01:25 Port Chalmers, the Dominican Priory, and the old Dunedin Hospital 1:05:31 Warmer Kiwi Homes and Dunedin's student flats 1:07:32 A "reluctant civil duty": why he's standing anyway 1:09:17 The pitch to a 20-year-old: thinking past three years 1:15:21 Closing: enrol, and do your own research ProsperNZ, because we all deserve to prosper. linktr.ee/prospernz