Wedd's Weekly 24 April 2026

School's back this week and so is parliament. With four children at four different schools, it's been a busy start to the term getting sorted with winter uniforms, sports and subjects. It's also been a busy week in parliament as I work through our Resource Management Reform.

It was also a privilege to attend the EIT graduation where we celebrated all the incredible talent in our region.

OUT AND ABOUT

Embracing a mosaic of cultures

It was such a special morning celebrating Sri Lankan New Year with our local Sri Lankan community.

This is a really meaningful time of year centred around the end of harvest and celebrating prosperity, family, tradition, and new beginnings, and it was awesome to see that come to life through the lighting of the oil lamp, shared food, and traditional games.

We share many similarities here in Hawke’s Bay as the fruit bowl of NZ we also celebrate our abundant harvest this season.

Our Sri Lankan community makes a fantastic contribution to Hawke’s Bay, and it’s been great to see this celebration grow year on year. A real reflection of the strong, connected community here.

Thank you so much for the wonderful hospitality, I loved being part of it.

Wishing everyone a very happy Sri Lankan New Year.

Highlighting FTA with India

I spoke to media highlighting our Free Trade Agreement with India and how important this is for our Hawke’s Bay Exporters! It is exciting that this significant agreement will be signed on April 27th.

I’ve been approached by many of our Exporters and my constituents who have signed a letter, encouraging political parties to get behind trade in Hawke’s Bay and it was good to see Labour finally backing the free trade deal, which our National Minister, Todd McClay has negotiated. National sees the huge value of trade, especially for regions like Hawke's Bay.

This high-quality deal will deliver thousands of jobs and billions in new exports, helping our goal of doubling the value of exports over the next 10 years.

I am a big champion for the India Free Trade Agreement and will continue to support this deal across the line for the benefit of our region.

Championing local business

I visited Webster’s Lime Quarry which is a fourth-generation business in Hawke’s Bay operating for more than 80 years.

It was amazing to meet with the Webster family, Matt, Nick and Robert who have been providing amazing lime products across New Zealand for decades.

They have made a commitment to move away from fossil fuels to power the quarry and are using wood chips to heat the lime - transitioning from coal. It is great to see our local businesses working hard to reduce their carbon footprint.

Our Government’s Resource Management Reform will have a positive impact on our quarry sector.

We need to support our quarry industry which is enabling infrastructure development across NZ, creating jobs and opportunity.

Well done to Webster’s for all the work you do in our community and across NZ!

Running victory!

A big congratulations Jocè for your 500th parkrun at the Flaxmere Parkrun!

What a special milestone to share with you - one of the first Hawke’s Bay park runners to reach 500!

I have loved seeing you out at the triathlons and running events across Hawke’s Bay over the years - you are truly inspirational!

A time of happiness and new beginnings

It was delightful celebrating the Thai New Year and the Songkran Festival.

The Songkran Festival is a time of happiness, family reunions, and new beginnings.

It was a privilege to participate in the celebrations including traditional alms offering (Tak Bat) to monks for good fortune and I enjoyed all the delicious Thai cuisine.

Thank you to our beautiful Hawke’s Bay Thai community for your warm hospitality.

Super Blues with Tom Rutherford MP for Bay of Plenty

Tom Rutherford MP for Bay of Plenty and I represent the two largest growing regions in NZ - Bay of Plenty has the largest kiwifruit industry and Hawke’s Bay is the largest apple growing region.

The government's Free Trade Agreement with India reduces tariffs on 95 percent of our exports with India - including kiwifruit and apples.

The FTA will drive economic growth in our regions and create jobs and opportunity.

We need to get behind this deal, which is the first time New Zealand has ever had a Free Trade Agreement with India.

In uncertain global times we need to diversify our international markets and ensure our exporters have markets to send our premium produce to.

India opens up a population of 1.4 billion people, with an appetite for our premium NZ apples and kiwifruit.

EIT graduation

Congratulations to all those who graduated from EIT Hawke's Bay this week.

It was an honour to be part of the EIT celebration and see the amazing talent we have in Hawke’s Bay. Many of the graduates had jobs in our Hawke's Bay schools, hospitals, businesses and organizations. It was exciting to discuss their journey into the workforce.

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

FTA with India

Legal verification of the New Zealand-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been completed with both countries agreeing its signing on 27 April in New Delhi in front of a large contingent of Indian and New Zealand businesses.

This once-in-a-generation agreement gives our exporters unprecedented access to 1.4 billion people and an economy set to become the third largest in the world.

With so much global unrest, a trade agreement with India has never been more important for New Zealand’s prosperity.

Signing the FTA allows New Zealand to initiate a formal parliamentary treaty examination and means the public can scrutinise the agreement in full.

The historic agreement was concluded in December and eliminates or reduces tariffs on 95 per cent of New Zealand’s exports – among the highest of any Indian FTA.

Almost 57 per cent of our exports will be duty-free from day one including lamb, wool, coal, leather, most forestry and industrial products. This will increase to 82 per cent when fully implemented including infant formula, a kiwifruit quota almost four times our current exports and seafood. The remaining 13 per cent including kiwifruit, apples, mānuka honey, wine and some dairy is subject to sharp tariff cuts.

Immediate fuel relief for school communities

As we navigate the global fuel crisis, our government is ensuring that schools remain open and students stay engaged in their learning.

We know that the rising cost of fuel is hitting some schools harder than others, particularly those that rely on diesel and where students face longer distances when travelling to and from school.

That’s why we are investing $37 million to replace diesel boilers at 70 schools nationwide, increasing the mileage reimbursement rate for the relief teachers travelling to rural and isolated schools, and lifting the allowance that eligible families receive to help with the cost of driving their kids to school or the nearest bus route.

These measures are carefully targeted to where fuel costs are having the greatest impact and will help ensure kids stay in school.

ED peer support workers for three extra hospitals

Hawke's Bay is amongst the latest hospitals to get peer support workers in the Emergency Department.

If you are going to an emergency department in mental health crisis, this can feel incredibly scary. Often ED’s are busy and can feel overwhelming. Now, people can have a peer support specialist alongside them who understands what they’re going through and can help support them.

Hutt Valley and Hawke’s Bay hospitals are expected to be operational by mid-2026, and Whangārei Hospital will be open shortly after.

Peer support workers are part of our plan to deliver faster access to support, more frontline workers and a better crisis response.

Boosting maths progress nationwide with proven pathway

The conclusion of the Government’s Year 7 and 8 maths acceleration trial has shown students made double the progress of their peers in 12 weeks and largely retained their learning months later.

The maths acceleration programme builds on our Make it Count maths action plan. This plan introduced initiatives including:

• $20 million in professional learning and development in the structured maths approach to support the rollout of the new curriculum

• increased maths requirements for new teachers

• group interventions to support students who have fallen significantly behind

• earlier and more frequent intervention to tackle student achievement issues

This year we have also introduced maths resources to help Year 9 and 10 students who are behind at the request of the sector.

Maths is a foundational skill that sets students up for future success. Our government backs the potential of every child to succeed and is putting in place the support required to deliver this.

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