Procreation, hemp and systemic revolution were among economic saviours touted at Monday evening's Meet the Candidates forum in Dunedin.
Asked to outline their party's main policies for economic growth, and to increase business and employment opportunities, the 16 Dunedin North and South candidates all started by espousing common goals - more jobs, a stronger economy and a prosperous future for all.
But the paths to prosperity they promoted to the 160-strong audience at the joint The Star and Otago Chamber of Commerce-run forum could not have been more different.
Julian Crawford, Dunedin North candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis New Zealand Party, had only just finished detailing some of hemp's 20,000 different uses when he was called on to be the first to outline his party's economic policy.
"Like I was just saying, hemp could be a very lucrative industry," Mr Crawford said, eliciting good-natured laughter from the audience.
Hemp could be turned into biofuel, which could help New Zealand become less dependent on other countries for fuel, he said.
Guy McCallum and Kimberly Hannah, the Act New Zealand candidates for Dunedin North and Dunedin South respectively, said further deregulating international trade, and reducing taxes and spending were the keys to a stronger economy.
In the past term, Act had helped repeal 200 unnecessary regulations which had been impeding business, Mr McCallum said.
Act's approach would "increase jobs and rewards for wealth creators", Miss Hannah said.
Democrats for Social Credit would replace GST with a financial transaction tax and direct the Reserve Bank to fund new businesses, the party's Dunedin South candidate, Warren Voight, said.
The party's Dunedin North candidate, Jeremy Noble, said early 20th century prime minister Michael Joseph Savage had used the Reserve Bank to "spearhead the growth of the economy". This was what needed to happen again now, he said.
New Zealand First Dunedin South candidate Randall Ratana said his party's economic policies included simplifying the tax system.
Robert Wansink, founder and Dunedin South candidate for the Restore All Things in Christ Party, urged voters to follow the natural order by getting married and having "lots and lots of children".
A population boom would lead to an increase in businesses and jobs, Mr Wansink said.
The Green Party was looking to a different sort of natural growth.
Party co-leader and Dunedin North candidate Metiria Turei said state assets should stay in public ownership and the government should pursue the many available sustainable opportunities to "transform our economy".
Her party's Dunedin South candidate, Shane Gallagher, said following this path would make the country a world leader.
National Party Dunedin South candidate Joanne Hayes said Treaty of Waitangi settlements meant many tribes were "sitting on a lot of dough". The partial privatisation of state assets could give tribes "opportunities to invest in New Zealand".
Her Dunedin North compatriot, list MP Michael Woodhouse, was greeted with cheers and hissing when he said "one thing we have learnt from a Labour government is you can't borrow your way to prosperity".
Mr Woodhouse favoured reducing red tape and "meaningful investment in R and D".
But Labour Party Dunedin North candidate David Clark had a ready retort to voice his disagreement.
"The National Party doesn't like letting the facts get in the way of a good story," he said.
Mr Clark said a capital gains tax would encourage people to "invest in businesses rather than speculating on houses".
Labour Party MP and Dunedin South candidate Clare Curran said the expertise in New Zealand universities should be used to drive research and development which would produce businesses and jobs.
United Future Dunedin North candidate Peter George offered more of the same from his party.
United Future had used its position as a member of both the Labour and National-led governments to help businesses grow, he said.
But Alliance Party Dunedin North candidate Victor Billot was not content with the status quo.
The free market did not deliver jobs to the many but "wealth to the few", Mr Billot said.
"We need to change the whole system, not tinker around the edges," he said.
The party's Dunedin South candidate, Kay Murray, in promoting more work training and a $17/hour minimum wage, closed the topic with one last dig at the Government.
"Unlike National we won't turn New Zealand into a giant dairy farm with waterways to match," she said.