6 October 2022
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Criticism of (s)Elect app
Enquiry
I am writing something up about the candidates who chose not to use the (S)elect App and the reasons why that was. I received the below [comment] and wanted to provide an opportunity for council to respond.
Tania Tapsell:
Do you have any concerns about the platform? If yes, what are they?
"Transparency is an important value of mine so I don’t support questions being asked anonymously. I raised this concern directly with the CE of the Chamber, CE of Council, and the developer instead of publicly to protect the reputation of the App and those involved promoting it."
Do you have any concerns or thoughts on how voters might perceive you not answering?
“Because the App had significant advertising from Council, I was concerned voters perceived it as the only place to get candidate information and were not made aware of the App being voluntary until I raised my concerns. I've held several in person and online opportunities to respond to voter’s questions and delivered the most brochures and erected more billboards than any other candidate which had positive feedback from voters.”
Sandra Kai Fong:
Initially the public were not made aware that the use of the app by candidates was voluntary and there is no requirement for a candidate to participate in the app. That has now been updated with a statement to that effect. The app was being promoted by the Chamber and the council as a platform for the public to ask questions and therefore to answer them is part of a campaign platform. I believe that the council should be apolitical and neutral and whilst encouraging people to get out and vote, it should not be involved in the campaign process itself which candidates decide for themselves. The app only allows questions to be asked anonymously, are being moderated by an unknown person and questions may be directed only to some and not all candidates. I raised these issues and other issues with the CEO of Council, the Chamber CEO and the returning officer under the Local Electoral Act.
Fisher Wang:
I fully support and think it’s great and encourage local app development, however I didn’t feel confident enough of the independent and nonpartisan nature of the platform, especially being an election platform funded by ratepayers. Another concern I had was around the anonymity of the people asking the questions and what the screening/moderating process was, it wasn’t clear who played which role in that.
I have been attending many candidate forums, speaking and answering questions in person and on the spot. The app is one avenue out of many more to connect with the community on election issues, and I have been very active by engaging and answering questions through the media, social media, answering questions raised by people contacting me and by meeting with many people within our community, and I will continue to fully engage with our community.
Response
From Acting DCE District Leadership and Democracy Greg Kieck:
Council has a role to promote the election and voter participation. As part of that role we have promoted the app as an additional way for people to engage in the election and to encourage them to vote.
It is up to candidates to decide if they want to engage with the app or not.
The app is apolitical and the council organisation has no control of it and is not involved in vetting or moderation. Our organisation is very conscious of the need to remain politically neutral.
Our focus has been on encouraging voter participation and it’s not too late for eligible voters who haven’t yet voted to do so – we encourage them to check out the information available on council’s website or to call us for assistance.
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Media: Rotorua Weekender
Topic: Aquabots Regionals
Enquiry
It would be great to run a follow-up story on the AquaBots Regionals either this week or next, so wondered if it would be possible to have the results and a few comments to the below questions sent through?
- For those who may not know, what is AquaBots and how does the competition work/what challenges are involved?
- How many teams took part in the regionals? What was the atmosphere like on the day?
- What were some highlights/great things to see on the day?
- What is the next stage for winning teams?
- Why is it great and important to have so many Rotorua youth getting involved with AquaBots?
- If there are a couple photos available to be sent through along with the comments and results that would be awesome.
Response
We provided the following:
AquaBots is nationwide programme designed to give students an overall experience in the engineering process. AquaBots gives students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned to professionals in the field, educators, other students, and the general public.
The 2022 AquaBots Challenge consists of 4 underwater competitions, a team presentation and technical report (for OPEN TEAMS ONLY). The challenges are a test of how well the students design, build, and operate their AquaBots. The team presentation is a test of organisational and documentation capabilities which allows the students to showcase their design and demonstrate how well they can convey their engineering ideas and market their AquaBot.
The theme for 2022 was Aquaculture with teams needing to help repair an underwater cable, remove debris from an underwater fish pen and collect eDNA. This is in addition to the standard obstacle course
40 teams from 7 different schools and organisations participated. There were 32 primary school teams + 2 standard intermediate teams and 6 intermediate/high school teams who were trailing the more advanced Aquabots 2.0 kits.
The atmosphere was of controlled chaos. With almost 160 people moving around the pool to different events teams were elated and frustrated in equal measure as robots performed better than expected or suddenly lost propellers.
Re highlights: While the Aquabots 2.0 kits threw up new and interesting issues it was great to see them being used and giving our more advanced and experienced students something to stretch them with.
Re what's next: Next for winning teams is to advance to the National event being held in Rotorua on the 4th December. Teams can upgrade and amend their robots and presentations in anticipation. We are expecting between 20 – 25 teams from around the country – as far as Northland and as South as Nelson. The National Competition has the same events as the regionals but teams competing are the best in their region. Teams who win at Nationals are offered a chance to compete in the International SeaPerch Competition or for Aquabots 2.0 teams the international MATE competition both held in the USA between May and July 2023. Rotorua Teams do very well with 9 of the last three years of national winning teams being from Rotorua. This is the first time Rotorua has held Nationals as it alternates between islands.
Re importance of youth getting involved: This is a great way to introduce students to STEM and engineering. They are exposed to science and math in an easy to understand context. It provides opportunities to learn about careers in engineering.
Results below.
Overall Results – Primary
1st | The Fantastic Four (Malfroy Montessori) |
2nd | The Devil Marines (Rotorua Primary) + Motosaurs (Malfroy Montessori) |
3rd | Rambotics (St Mary’s School) |
Intermediate Standard – Winner | The Muffins (TAM Holiday Programme) |
Results by Event
Factsheet
Primary/Intermediate (Standard) | Aquabots 2.0 | |
1st | Water Warriors | Team Tahi + Axelolts |
2nd | Fish is flopping | Transformers |
3rd | Muffins, Fantastic Four, Motoraurs, TBC | Worrtah |
Interview
Primary/Intermediate (Standard) | Aquabots 2.0 | |
1st | Motosaurs | Team Tahi |
2nd | Devil Marines | Hydrojets |
3rd | The Golden Trio, Fish is flopping, Aquaman, Muffins, Water Warriors, Rotokawa Fishys | Masterminds |
eDNA
1st | Devil Marines |
2nd | Motosaurs, Rotokawa Aquabosses |
3rd | The Taniwhas |
Fish Pen
1st | Muffins, Fantastic Four |
2nd | Lynmore Splashes, Rambotics, Horizon line |
3rd | Motosaurs, Legends |
Aquaculture
1st | Supergirls, Mighty Marshmallows |
2nd | Muffins, Aquaman, The Taniwhas, The Golden Trio, KFR Allstars |
3rd | Fantastic Four, Bobby Town, Triple Trouble, Rotokawa Better Bots |
Obstacle Course
1st | Devil Marines |
2nd | Fantastic Four |
3rd | Legends |
Quiz
Primary/Intermediate (Standard) | Aquabots 2.0 | |
1st | MALL Girls, Water Titans | Masterminds + Axelotls |
2nd | Steaming Phoenix, Lynmore Splashes | Team Tahi + Transformers |
3rd | The Turtles, Tiger Sharks, Triple Trouble | Worrtah |