It's been a fantastic recess week back in the electorate and being able to welcome Education Minister Erica Stanford. A highlight was welcoming the Minister to Hastings Boys' High School and view the new RSE accommodation at Kelston Orchards to see firsthand some of the great work being done in our community.
It was great to have our Minister of Education and Immigration in the electorate this week.
We visited Kelston Orchards to showcase the RSE accommodation and packhouse, Hastings Boys High School to show the Minster the amazing work the school is doing with the Building Academy, and Pudney Hub in Napier who embrace and celebrate the diverse ways in which every child expresses themselves.
Thank you to all who showed us around.
Amazing to see the incredible development in Flaxmere. I caught up with Reuben Horn who is one of the owners of the newly opened Flaxmere Pharmacy.
It’s a new state of the art pharmacy which was buzzing when I visited, with a NZ Post shop and Kiwibank - right next door to the new Flaxmere Supermarket.
This development in Flaxmere shows what can be achieved when local government, central government, iwi and industry work together to build the future of Hawke’s Bay.
Thanks for the tour Reuben and well done on the amazing new pharmacy.
Loved visiting Kirsten and the team at Building Futures and finding out more about the pilot programme they are running with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Teaching important skills to ensure young people are ready for meaningful employment.
Great to catch up with some of the players from the Hastings Old Girls Netball Club who will be playing our Parliament Team on 22nd August - raising money for Cranford Hospice!
It’s the biannual Parekura Horimia Memorial Trophy where the Parliament Rugby Team will play a Hawke’s Bay team at the Havelock North Rugby Club.
We look forward to taking to the court and supporting a great cause alongside the oldest netball club in the country with HHOGS celebrating 100 years!
If you would like to watch and support the netball, it is being played at Iona at 2.30pm and the rugby at 3.30pm at the Havelock North Rugby Club!
Let’s go the Parly Ferns!
So good to see hundreds of young entrepreneurs showcasing their businesses at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market.
So many talented students taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme and so many innovative ideas on show.
Well done to all the schools and students involved.
And this week our Hastings District voted unanimously to support the proposal for amalgamation into one unitary authority with Hastings, Napier and Central Hawke’s Bay: one council responsible for both local and regional council functions.
I have always been a strong advocate for amalgamation in Hawke’s Bay.
Thank you to our councils for all your hard work to present your proposal to cabinet.
The proposal has followed three months of engagement with our community and mana whenua, and we appreciate this hard work done by every one of you to ensure Hawke’s Bay’s unique local voice and needs are represented.
I look forward to building the future of our Amazing Hawke’s Bay Together.
The Arms Act 2026 has now been signed into law, and this means New Zealanders now have much better firearms laws that respect licenced firearm owners and improve public safety, by keeping firearms out of criminals' hands.
Firearms are used by licenced New Zealanders to put food on the table, earn a living, manage pests, compete in sport, enjoy the outdoors, and much more.
The new law replaces a complex and confusing system with legislation that is more logically structured, easier to understand, and focused on the areas that matter most for public safety, like ensuring gang membership is an automatic disqualification for holding a firearms license.
The new laws strengthen penalties and enforcement against unlawful firearms activity while improving the way the firearms system operates.
One of the most significant changes is the creation of a new arms regulator, Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand, that will operate independently of the Police.
Police will be able to focus on investigating crime and holding offenders to account, while the regulator focuses on licensing, firearms safety, education, and delivering a professional service to licenced firearm owners.
This is an important step towards rebuilding trust and confidence in the firearms regulatory system.
As part of our government’s nationwide Solar in Schools programme, local schools have been selected to receive rooftop solar power.
This means:
Lower power bills
More energy resilience
Reduced emissions
More money available for teaching and learning
Hastings Boys High School
Elsthorpe School
Havelock North High School
Hastings Girls High School
Karamu High School
Waimarama School
Mayfair School
Argyll School
Frimley School
Te Aratika Academy,
The Government is putting solar power on the roofs of 500 schools nationwide, helping them to cut power bills, boost resilience, reduce emissions, and bring renewable energy learning into classrooms.
On average, that will be around $8,000 a year saved for each school, which they can reinvest into their school.
The solar panels are estimated to pay for themselves within five to seven yearGas, delivering long term value for taxpayers and creating more energy resilient schools.
There’s great news for Hawke’s Bay, with our region now benefiting from a new Airbus H145 D3 emergency helicopter as part of a nationwide upgrade of New Zealand’s air ambulance fleet.
For many people across Hawke’s Bay, particularly those living in rural and remote communities, emergency helicopters can mean the difference between life and death. These services play a vital role in getting critically ill or injured patients the urgent care they need, whether at the scene of an accident or through transfers to specialist hospitals.
The new helicopter operated by Search and Rescue Services Limited brings significant improvements, including enhanced safety features, greater reliability, improved performance in challenging weather conditions, and advanced patient care capabilities. It replaces an older aircraft and will strengthen emergency response across our region.
Hawke’s Bay is one of eight regions to receive a new or near-new emergency helicopter since 2024, as part of a wider programme to modernise New Zealand’s ageing air ambulance fleet.
Our emergency helicopter crews do an incredible job every day, often in difficult conditions. It’s fantastic to see Hawke’s Bay equipped with modern technology that will help ensure people can access lifesaving care when they need it most.
Please take a moment and forward this email to friends and family who might like to stay in touch. We appreciate your help staying connected with the community and there's no time like right now!
If you received this newsletter from a friend or family member and would like to subscribe to future newsletters, please hit the subscribe here button below and fill out the "Get Updates" form on my Catherine Wedd webpage.
Follow me on Facebook for updates - Catherine Wedd MP for Tukituki | Facebook
I look forward to seeing you out in our Tukituki community soon.
Kind regards,
Catherine Wedd