There are now just 53 days until voting opens for the election and we have just two more sitting weeks in Parliament before we rise for the campaign. Our National signs will be going up this Saturday, so it will be all hands on deck as we work hard to paint Tukituki Blue.
Here is a sneak peak of our billboards which I am excited to get up across our region as we work hard to fix the basics and build the future for Hawke's Bay.
Party Vote National and Catherine Wedd for Tukituki!
OUT AND ABOUT IN TUKITUKI
Championing local business
I love taking Ministers to our amazing Hawke's Bay businesses, and it was great to have Finance Minister, Nicola Willis out and about across Tukituki.
Hawk is an incredible Hawke’s Bay business turning roadside rubbish into apple trays, which are being exported all around the world.
They’re also manufacturing robotic packing machines for packhouses across New Zealand and the US and they currently can’t keep up with demand.
We loved meeting many of their talented team and seeing all the exciting new jobs they’ve created.
Hawk is a family business which is helping drive economic growth and jobs across New Zealand. Well done to Tim, Sam and the team.
Honey for days!
We’re going for growth in Hawke’s Bay - the best food producing region in NZ!
And it was amazing to showcase the massive growth potential of Hawke’s Bay’s food-producing export sector to our Finance Minister.
Melita Honey is a family-owned business which is exporting New Zealand’s "liquid gold" to the world.
New Zealand's pure manuka honey is in hot demand around the world and export values are rising with the India Free Trade agreement opening up exciting opportunity for Manuka Honey.
This growth is creating jobs and opportunity and helping to strengthen our economy.
Seeing local businesses innovate, scale up, and put our region on the global map is what makes the future of Hawke's Bay so bright.
Thanks to Lars and the team for showing us around.
Investment Boost pays off
The Minister and I also visited Mt Erin's new coolstore which is supporting the growth of our apple industry. Following Cyclone Gabrielle, the Mt Erin team has stood up and invested in world leading infrastructure, with a new coolstore facility, using our Governments Investment Boost policy. This tax relief for businesses, is helping grow businesses and create jobs and opportunity and Mt Erins is a good example of this.
National wants to encourage investment and business growth which helps create jobs and lift incomes in our region.
This is industry-led investment, backed by smart financing, and supported by government settings.
Family-owned and operated
I visited Power Retread this week - a family-owned and operated business in the heart of Hastings.
It was started in 1992 due to the demand from independent tyre dealers who were looking for a quality, competitively priced truck retread to suit the New Zealand market and conditions. As the transport industry grew so did the requirement for a greater range of tread patterns which they also supply.
Their work to retread tyres creates a sustainable circular economy, where they retread tyres, keeping them out of landfill and rivers and getting them back on the road "as new".
I loved meeting their team and learning about ways the Government can better support the Retread industry.
Thank you for showing me around!
Farewell Paulo Garcia
This week we farewelled NZ’s first Filipino Member of Parliament and the third Filipino MP to represent a country outside of the Philippines.
And wow what a very special moment in the house, for our very special MP Paulo Garcia.
Paulo has been a strong advocate for our Filipino communities across New Zealand and has become a very close friend of our family.
In his valedictory speech he was brave to share some of the unacceptable realities he has faced as an MP with untenable abuse towards his family.
In New Zealand we are proud to represent diversity in our parliament and New Zealanders should be proud of this too.
Go well Paulo, you will always be a special part of this House.
Party vote National
We knocked on hundreds of doors over the weekend as we work hard to fix the basics and Build the Future for Hawke’s Bay! I love connecting with constituents across our region as we work hard to increase National's Party Vote so we can form a National Led Government.
Havelock North Wanderers AFC season comes to a close
Thank you to the Havelock North Wanderers AFC for such an amazing season for thousands of our kids.
It was a beautiful morning at the club to celebrate hundreds of junior teams, their coaches and all the volunteers who make it possible.
A massive shout out to our 9th Grade Coach Jono Newby whose passion and commitment to the tyrannosaurus’s was outstanding and all the amazing coaches who put so much time and effort into coaching.
And a massive thanks to Unison and all the sponsors! Football is growing across our region and it’s so exciting to be part of this awesome sport.
GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
New lifejacket legislation to save lives
New lifejacket legislation will save lives and reduce preventable harm on New Zealand waters this summer.
Lifejackets save lives, and making sure boaties wear one while out on the water is essential if we want to reduce the number drownings in New Zealand.
The changes will come into effect 28 days after the Bill receives Royal Assent, meaning the new rule will be in place for the peak summer season.
Maritime NZ is leading coordinated implementation planning alongside sector partners, so people receive clear, practical and nationally consistent information about what the change means for them, their families and their time on the water.
The message for anyone heading out on a boat this summer remains simple: wear a properly fitted lifejacket, carry two reliable forms of communication and check the weather forecast.
Opening the farm gate to first-time buyers
Farm workers will soon be able to use their own KiwiSaver savings to buy their first home under legislation introduced this week.
The KiwiSaver (First Home or Farm) Amendment Bill fixes two rules that have kept rural New Zealanders from a first-home withdrawal available to everyone else. It began as a member's bill in the name of Rangitīkei MP Suze Redmayne, and the Government has adopted it.
If your job comes with a roof over your head, you should not be locked out of your own savings. Many farm workers are required to live where they work. But a first-home withdrawal requires you to move into the home you buy, so they have been paying into KiwiSaver alongside everyone else while shut out of a withdrawal every other member can make.
That rule was written with a suburban street in mind, not a farm gate. Rural New Zealand has been wearing the cost of it, and we are fixing that. The Bill also allows first-time farm buyers to use their KiwiSaver towards a farm bought through a company, trust or partnership they majority own and control, where the farm will be their main home. Current rules only allow it if the farm is in the buyer's own name.
New roadmap for supporting unpaid carers
The Government has launched a new action plan to recognise the thousands of unpaid or informal carers across the country who are at home providing care for a loved one.
It’s a demanding job juggling work, family and other commitments while caring for a loved one. Yet their work is critical in helping New Zealanders to live fuller lives.
Mahi Aroha Carers’ Strategy Action Plan is about recognising all their hard work and providing a sustainable, long-term roadmap for making progress on the issues carers face.
Link to Strategy Action Plan: The New Zealand Carers' Strategy - Ministry of Social Development
SEE YOU AT THE STREET CORNER
Come and have a chat at my street corner meetings this Sunday - Frimley, Parkvale and Havelock North.
See you there!
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I look forward to seeing you out in our Tukituki community soon.
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