I got the chance to attend our Hawke's Bay Waitangi Events, with a Hikoi and Family Day at the Showgrounds.
It's also been another busy week back in Parliament with work continuing our RMA Reform. Submissions for our two bills close this Friday, so March will be busy hearing these submissions.
We also took the opportunity to celebrate all our hardworking Hawke's Bay farmers and exporters for National Lamb Day.
After being up at Waitangi for the Government Powhiri I travelled home to celebrate our national day in Hawke's Bay. We had an early start with a hikoi from Waitangi Park to the banks of the Clive River, where one of the signings of the Treaty of Waitangi took place.
We then moved to the Waitangi Family Celebrations at Waikoko Gardens with whanau from across Heretaunga uniting and enjoying our national day together.
Thank you to Ngāti Kahungunu and the Waitangi Trust for organising two great events once again.
It was a privilege to be part of the fantastic opening of the Mt Erin coolstore. What an amazing project!
A coolstore like this one isn’t just a building — it’s a crucial piece of our infrastructure, which is supporting the growth of our apple industry in Hawke's Bay.
Between the labour challenges, weather extremes, and the pressure of global markets, the Mt Erin team has stood up and invested in world leading infrastructure.
It was positive to see them using our Investment Boost Initiative, which supported the capital investment. We are wanting to encourage investment and business growth which helps create jobs and opportunity for our region.
I want to congratulate the Mt Erin team for backing this vision, once again. It was a pleasure to be at the opening. This is industry-led investment, backed by smart financing, and supported by government settings.
Electric Cherries is leading the way in NZ, growing, packing, and exporting cherries, using renewable energy!
It was great to welcome Mike Casey and his team to Parliament as they delivered Central Otago cherries on a fully electric truck - a great example of world leading innovation and sustainable practises in our Horticulture Sector.
We grow the best fruit in the world and export it with a low carbon footprint.
So, it’s wonderful to celebrate innovation and support growers like Mike.
We celebrated all our hardworking sheep farmers and exporters for National Lamb Day, at Parliament!
Lamb exports have hit record highs under our government as we back our farmers who work hard to produce the best meat in the world!
Agriculture is the backbone of our economy. Meat and wool export revenue alone is forecast to increase seven per cent to $13.2 billion in the year to 30 June 2026.
The efforts of New Zealand’s hard-working sheep and beef farmers support tens of thousands of jobs, and the sector is crucial to New Zealand’s ambitious goal of doubling the value of exports in 10 years.
We are focused on building the future. We’re cutting red tape through significant reforms, building trade, boosting farmgate returns, and investing in the health of rural New Zealand.
Investment Boost driving real investment, lifting productivity
Investment Boost is already changing investment behaviour, bringing projects forward, increasing scale, and lifting productivity across the economy.
And now new Inland Revenue survey data shows the policy is working, tipping investment decisions early, increasing scale, and bringing capital forward.
The Government has been clear it backs ownership, investment and stable productivity-enhancing tax policy.
New Zealand does not grow by taxing more and investing less. It grows by backing ambition, rewarding success, and giving businesses the confidence to invest for the long term.
98 per cent of potholes repaired within 24 hours
Around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways are now being fixed within 24 hours of being identified each month, showing our government’s drive to fix the basics on New Zealand’s roads is paying off.
Lifting productivity to help rebuild our economy and build New Zealand’s future remains a major focus for this Government, and accelerating pothole repairs and preventative work is essential to maintaining a safe, reliable state highway network that underpins that growth.
To get on top of the issue, we created a dedicated $3.9 billion Pothole Prevention Activity Class over three years, specifically for resealing, rehabilitation, and drainage maintenance. This ensures the funding is used solely for preventing potholes.
With roughly $2 billion allocated to state highways, NZTA has been delivering an extensive programme of work, including consistently high volumes of road rehabilitation, a process that rebuilds full road sections rather than relying on resealing alone.
Nearly 40,000 more building products approved
We are focused on fixing the basics and building a better future for New Zealand, and that means making it easier and more affordable to deliver the homes and public buildings that will ease house prices and lift living standards.
By amending the Building Act through the Overseas Building Products Amendment Bill, MBIE can now recognise building products already certified under overseas schemes in comparable countries in the tens of thousands, rather than one at a time.
The granting of these recognition notices means Building Consent Authorities must accept the products as compliant, reducing unnecessary red tape, costs, and delays while allowing a more diverse range of materials to be used.
Disability support improvements begin
From this week, a new nationally consistent approach will begin to benefit disabled people, families and carers who use supports funded by Disability Support Services.
From this week, All Needs Assessment Service Coordination organisations (NASCs) and Enabling Good Lives (EGL) sites will use the same approach to assess needs and ensure supports are allocated fairly and consistently – no matter where people live.
After their assessment, people will get a clear plan focused on their needs and explaining the purpose of their funding. Support will be available if they need it to help them manage their plan.
Families and carers can also now be considered as part of the assessment. We recognise that better support for the wellbeing of families and carers also greatly improves the disabled person’s wellbeing and quality of life.
In April, further improvements mean people with flexible funding will get budgets to manage within and current purchasing rules will be removed (including the March 2024 changes).
Delivering LNG to support energy security
Labour’s oil and gas ban increased energy prices, cut jobs, and increased New Zealand reliance on overseas coal. This means that even though New Zealand is experiencing an electricity generation boom, a rapidly declining gas supply has left our electricity sector exposed during dry years.
That is why the National-led Government will contract to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility in Taranaki in a critical step to strengthen New Zealand’s energy security and support economic growth.
Having this facility is expected to save Kiwis around $265 million per annum, or around $50 per household by reducing price spikes and lowering the risk premium built into power bills.
It is all part of National’s plan to fix the basics and build the future.
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