- local Kapiti cancer clinic
- expanding bowel cancer screening even further than last year, now additionally to 56 and 57 year olds
- increased elective surgery appointments
- speeding up waitlists for ED, first cancer and specialist appointments
- funding new medications through increases to Pharmac
- funding 3-day post-natal stays for new mums, and
- new specialist paediatric palliative care.
- PLD for every high school teacher over five days
- more investment in structured literacy and numeracy including another round of new Learning Support Coordinators in January,
- 50% increase to all future property budgets
- increasing the ops grant (operating budget) that every school gets.
- This is all so our children can achieve their very best at school.
Treasury projections show our budget will create 220,000 new jobs, the amount you earn will go up faster than prices will, with better growth for the next three years than Australia, UK, Canada, the EU and Japan.
Importantly, from 2028/29 we will be back in surplus (first time in a decade), which means that we'll be spending less than we earn so we can start to pay down Labour's debt!
My focus, and that of National, is delivering for every family in our region, so life becomes more affordable, you can get faster healthcare closer to home, your children and grandchildren get the best education, and you live in a safe and vibrant community. I'll expand on the budget more over the coming weeks - follow on my Facebook page.
My bill to make it easier for people to access help from Government agencies like hospitals, ambulances, Police, MSD, Kainga Ora, and many more has passed first reading. The current messy web of overlapping boundaries means people in Ōtaki have to go between various offices in Levin, Ōtaki, Paraparaumu and Porirua. My bill will mean they can go to one place for all their help.
Submissions are currently open, and I'm encouraging everyone to make a submission, sharing your story, your frustrations, or even just simply saying "sounds like a sensible idea."
My Parliamentary Inquiry into Fire and Emergency continues, and I've had fantastic feedback from firefighters and communities right across New Zealand. The feedback I hear is that I've found a serious issue, I'm representing our community well, and they want me to continue to go further after the election once this work focussed on fleet (vehicles) is finished in another couple of months. I will continue to represent all our first responders and service personnel.
I also spent the weekend with our volunteer and career firefighters in Auckland climbing the Skytower. We raised $2.5m for Blood Cancer NZ which is a charity close to my heart. You can see the highlights here.
My next Member's Bill was also drawn out. It institutes a medal to recognise the service of Kiwis in times of crisis. This includes humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and states of emergency at home, in the Pacific, and around the world. I want to recognise the service of our first responders, military, search and rescue volunteers, and other personnel who deploy in times of need.
