It's been nice to be back in the electorate this week after a massive week in Parliament where we sat in urgency, passing 10 bills into law.
We are the hardworking National Party, working to midnight Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and late Saturday.
One of my highlights during urgency was my 3 day stay bill, to give mums better postnatal care, which took another major step forward.
In the second reading it was amazing to see cross party support for this incredibly important issue that I have been championing since I came into Government.
No mother should have to leave hospital or a birthing unit before they are ready. This bill ensures mums get the support they need, if they choose.
Alongside this we have committed $34.4 million to increase maternity bed capacity, staffing and resourcing.
This is all part of National’s plan to strengthen maternity care in NZ and build the future for women and families.
It's about fixing the basics and building the future!
As well as a busy few weeks in Parliament we have been busy out in Tukituki.
We had a fabulous turnout recently for Superblues with Health Minister Simeon Brown, who spoke about the progress we have made with healthcare. He is also our National Party Campaign Chair, so it was great to hear about our campaign too - Fixing the Basics and Building the Future.
Thank you to all who attended! It was great to see the support for National.
It was great to be invited to a mihi whakatu to mark the beginning of Ross McLeod's tenure as Chief Executive for Central Hawke's Bay District Council.
I have had the opportunity to work with Ross prior to his appointment as CE and I look forward to continuing to have good working relationship with him.
Strong farmer confidence is driving business for many local companies in Hawke’s Bay.
I loved catching up with Tom and his team at Twist Trucking and Stephenson Transport and learning more about our rural trucking industry and the family businesses.
Our government’s investment in roads and infrastructure has been welcome action for our truckies.
Hawke’s Bay is driven by agriculture and when our farmers do well, our Hawke’s Bay Community does well - more jobs and more opportunity!
National backs rural New Zealand all the way!
It was fantastic to receive such a warm reception at Heretaunga Seniors. I love getting out and about across the electorate during school holidays and hearing from my constituents. There was some great feedback which I will take back to the team. Thank you for having me.
New Zealand is a trading nation, with one in four jobs linked to trade.
So National has set a clear goal to reach our next billion customers by opening doors for our exporters around the world.
We committed to securing a trade deal with India – and we delivered. This is huge for export regions like Hawke's Bay. With the FTA with India, a Hawke’s Bay apple grower will have preferential access to a market of 1.4 billion people through the India FTA – meaning better returns at the orchard gate and more jobs in the packhouse.
Now we’ll bring that same ambition to the next billion customers, pursuing seven new markets over the next five years.
Because every extra sale offshore means more jobs and higher wages right here in Tukituki- the fruit bowl of New Zealand.
That’s how we build New Zealand’s future.
New Zealand's mental health laws are set for their biggest overhaul in more than 30 years, with Parliament passing landmark legislation.
New protections will be introduced to support mothers and their newborn babies staying together while under compulsory mental health care. Under the new protections, separation may only happen where the responsible practitioner deems it is in the best interest of the mother and baby.
For adults, the Bill introduces stronger safeguards and oversight around seclusion, significantly limiting the circumstances in which it can be used, while continuing to reduce its use as we work towards eliminating seclusion altogether.
It also strengthens supported decision-making, increases family involvement, introduces independent advocacy, and raises the threshold for the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), ensuring it is used only in much more limited circumstances.
The changes will come into force in two years, allowing time for clinicians and the wider mental health system to prepare for these significant reforms.
A home test rolling out nationwide will mean more New Zealanders can get faster assessment of bowel symptoms, while also helping free up specialist capacity needed to safely bring down the bowel screening age.
Under the pathway, most patients referred by their GP to hospital with bowel cancer symptoms will be offered the test first. It is available to people aged 18 and over. Those with a positive result will be prioritised for a colonoscopy or an alternative bowel investigation.
Health New Zealand expects the test to reduce colonoscopy referrals for people with bowel cancer symptoms by up to 30 per cent.
That's a significant amount of specialist capacity freed up, allowing people who need a colonoscopy to be seen faster, and reducing wait times. That freed-up capacity is what allows us to keep safely lowering the screening age.
The Government has delivered on its commitment to crack down on boy racers, fleeing drivers, and other antisocial road users, with Parliament passing the Antisocial Road Use Legislation Amendment Bill.
At present, the consequences for antisocial driving behaviour have not been strong enough to deter this appalling behaviour. New Zealanders have had enough.
The new offences and penalties include:
- Establishing a presumptive sentence of vehicle destruction or forfeiture for those that flee Police, street racers, intimidating convoys, and owners who fail to identify offending drivers
- Giving Police more powers to manage antisocial vehicle gatherings by closing roads or public areas and issuing infringements
- Increasing the infringement fee for making excessive noise from or within a vehicle from $50 to $300.
The updated National Curriculum for Years 0–10 will be released by 9 September 2026, following consultation with the education sector and the public.
Science and Social Sciences will be released first, on 12 August, because schools must begin using them in 2027. This will give schools more time to consider the changes and prepare for implementation.
Pūtaiao and Pūmanawa Tangata, the corresponding wāhanga ako in Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, will be released on 26 August following final quality assurance of the content in te reo Māori.
- More than 3,900 submissions were received across six learning areas and seven wāhanga ako.
- The Ministry invited the sector and wider New Zealand public to take part in the consultation, and ran in-person workshops, online webinars, surveys, and in class trialling to encourage participation.
- It also engaged with education organisations, subject associations, education experts and sector review groups to seek further advice on the drafts.
Legislation to update New Zealand’s environmental reporting regime passed its first reading in Parliament.
The Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill is an important part of our work to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our environmental reporting system.
The Bill proposes amending the Environmental Reporting Act 2015 to improve data quality, and make information more accessible, relevant and timely.
It changes reporting content and timeframes, better aligns roles and responsibilities, and provides a more structured collection of environmental data and knowledge.
The Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament on June 16.
The Bill will now go to the Environment Select Committee for scrutiny.
The government is investing $9 million, the single biggest investment ever made in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), to establish community-based hubs in Hawke's Bay, Rotorua/Kawerau and Gisborne.
The three locations have been selected because they reflect areas of significant need, and the investment responds to longstanding barriers people have faced in accessing timely FASD assessment and diagnosis.
We know limited access has created uncertainty for families and made it more difficult to receive the support they need.
Delays in diagnosis and assessment create stress for families, limit access to support, and contribute to poorer long-term outcomes. We know how important access to timely assessment and support is for improving outcomes for children and young people with FASD.
We know early intervention makes a real difference. By identifying children earlier and supporting families sooner, we can improve lifelong health, learning and development outcomes.
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I look forward to seeing you out in our Tukituki community soon.
Regards, Catherine
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