All victims of landslide recovered.
The heartbreaking news recently that the final victim of the Mount Maunganui campground landslide has been formally identified as Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler, known to family and friends as Jackie, a much-loved Rotorua woman.
Jackie was 71, the founder of Colour Concepts with her husband Terry, and a grandmother who brought joy and strength to so many. She and her friend Sue made their annual summer trip to the campground for a month of friendship, caravans, and cherished memories, something so simple, yet so precious, now shattered.
In Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, we know this site as a place of joy and relaxation for so many families, its loss hits our community deeply.
My thoughts are with the families and friends of all those lost in this tragedy: Lisa Anne Maclennan, Måns Loke Bernhardsson, Jacqualine (Jackie) Wheeler, Susan Doreen Knowles, Sharon Maccanico, and Max Furse-Kee. Six lives taken far too soon.
I want to acknowledge the incredible work of our first responders, Fire and Emergency NZ’s USAR teams, Police, St John, and everyone involved in the long, complex recovery and identification process. You’ve shown tireless dedication and compassion through unimaginable conditions. Thank you.
If anyone in our community needs support during this time, please reach out, resources are available through local services, Victim Support, and my office.
Let’s continue to hold these families close, respect the space needed for healing, and look out for one another in the days ahead.
Rest in peace, Jackie, Sue, Lisa, Max, Sharon, and Måns.
Easier prescriptions put more money in patients’ pockets
New Zealanders can receive prescriptions for up to 12-months, saving them money and simplifying access to medicines. This is a commonsense change that will make a real difference to patients who have stable, long-term conditions like asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and high blood pressure. If your GP or other prescriber decides it’s appropriate and safe to provide 12-month prescriptions, you won’t have to get a new prescription every three months from the GP.
You will visit your usual pharmacy to collect the repeats and will only pay a single prescription charge of $5 when you collect your first supply. Patients won’t need to pay a charge for the remaining repeats over the 12-month period.
This is a win-win for both patients and health professionals. It means lower costs, and better access to medicines for New Zealanders with long term, stable medical conditions. It also reduces the time GPs and other prescribers need to spend renewing routine prescriptions, making it easier for other patients to get an appointment when they need one. This is just one of the practical, patient-focused changes the Government has made to give New Zealanders better access to healthcare, closer to home.
Mount Maunganui’s lifeguard clubhouse at the base of Mauao has been declared unsafe to occupy following last Thursday’s landslide. I’ll be working to make sure the surf club can return to full operations as soon as it’s safe to do so, and I’ll keep you updated.
Teamed up for life with my best friend.
SuperBlues - coming up
Welcome Bay "Drop-in Clinic" - Monday 16 February
Papamoa Community Markets - 2026
This Week in New Zealand History
Treaty of Waitangi signed
6 February 1840
Painting of the treaty signing by Marcus King, 1938 (Alexander Turnbull Library, G-821-2)
More than 40 Māori chiefs signed a treaty with the British Crown in the Bay of Islands. The Treaty of Waitangi remains controversial.
A week earlier, Captain William Hobson had landed at Kororāreka from HMS Herald and proclaimed himself lieutenant-governor of a colony that did not yet exist. His instructions from the Colonial Office in London were to seek Māori consent to British sovereignty. Officials drafted a document to present to a hui of prominent chiefs, especially those who had signed the 1835 Declaration of Independence (see 28 October).
Missionary Henry Williams and his son Edward translated the English draft into Māori on the night of 4 February. Its three clauses transferred kawanatanga (governorship) from the Confederation and individual chiefs to Queen Victoria; guaranteed Māori continued possession of their taonga (property), with the right to sell land to the Crown should they wish; and granted Māori the ‘rights and privileges’ of British subjects.
On the morning of 5 February, about 500 Māori, Hobson’s retinue and local Pākehā gathered on the lawn in front of British Resident James Busby’s house at Waitangi. After Hobson spoke in English, Henry Williams explained in Māori that the treaty was an act of love by the Queen and Busby emphasised that it protected land rights.
Much of the subsequent kōrero – translated for Hobson by the missionaries – favoured the status quo, with missionaries rather than a governor as protectors of Māori. Some chiefs also foresaw the loss of their land. The tide was turned by two influential rangatira, with Tāmati Wāka Nene declaring it was too late to stop Pākehā arriving and Hōne Heke Pōkai advocating a covenant between Māori and the Queen.
Informal debate continued that evening. Hobson had announced that the hui would reconvene on the 7th, but many chiefs were eager to leave for home. When they assembled outside Busby’s residence on the morning of 6th, Hobson was summoned hastily from the Herald to accept signatures. By September 1840, another 500 Māori had signed one of the nine copies of the treaty and British sovereignty over the whole country had been declared.
The Week in Parliament - Briefly
Liaison officer deployment to Israel extended
The deployment of a New Zealand Defence Force liaison officer to Israel has been extended by an additional three months, Defence Minister Judith Collins says.
Support for schools and families affected by weather event
The Government is rolling out support to schools, kura and families in Northland and Gisborne to minimise potential disruptions, Education Minister Erica Stanford said.
Government cuts biosecurity levy for international travellers
The biosecurity part of the Border Processing Levy will drop by 30 percent for most arriving travellers, Minister for Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard says.
Faster access to ADHD support coming
Following the changes made today, more New Zealanders with ADHD will have faster access to support as a result of changes to who can assess, diagnose, and start ADHD treatment, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says.
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Thanks,
Tom.
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