Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart are very new to the island, we purchased in October 2014, and love to spend as much time here was we possibly can. Work commitments often mean that we remain stuck on the mainland during the week and we have an apartment there too as a result. So technically we are "merely" weekenders.

Andrew is English, and moved to New Zealand when he purchased a business at the end of 2012, and he believes he lives in the best place in the world, and he should know he's lived in or travelling to many of them.

Charlotte is from New Zealand and also has had the opportunity to live in some interesting places, so also knows what a blessing our country is as a place to live and bring up children.We have the lease on the View East vineyard and love being part of the Waiheke wine community, we hope to have more grapes over the years to come.

We are both busy business people during the week, but we are none too pleased with how the ferry story has been as an experience for us. We are not party of any political party or any other organisation, either on the island or mainland, which may have its own agenda. We just want a Fare-Go for Waiheke.

Our petition is a request for the exemption for the ferry route to be removed and is designed to create a conversation about the way forward with the community and this is why the Minister has agreed to present the petition.

If the exemption is removed then the route can be put up for a fully competitive tender with appropriate service standards and price protection. We will also know the accurate passenger numbers which is vital information for Waiheke businesses, the infrastructure planning and tourism to ensure we are adequately planning for the number of people who commute and also visit the island.

An alternative to the exemption being removed would be for the Minister to revise the wording of the Order in Council to ensure that future competition has the ability to start up on a level planning field and that the anti-competitive activity is prevented, specifically we would be looking for fair wharf access, capacity and ferry timetable stipulations and fare protection.