Just five days to go until the election, and early voting is in full swing.
And our team is busy campaigning for every vote, in this very tight election. So, if you see us sign waving, please give us a toot to support National. We have been getting amazing support from across Tukituki and appreciate everyone getting behind us. Party Vote National Today!
5 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY
Momentum is Building for National
This election is extremely tight.
National needs another term to deliver on a plan that is working with a growing economy, more jobs, higher wages, less debt and no new taxes.
We need to make sure National is the largest party so we can form a government and keep up the great progress for Hawke’s Bay!
Two Ticks for Team Hawke's Bay!
It's been great to be campaigning with the Napier Team. Katie Nimon and I have worked tirelessly to advocate for our region and we have seen strong progress. National is delivering for Hawke’s Bay! The Hawke’s Bay Expressway is being built at pace, on time and on budget and upgrades are well underway at the hospital, with new ward, new radiology department and the new cancer centre.
And Team Hawke's Bay still has much more to achieve!
Meet the need
It was wonderful to visit Salvation Army Hastings Corp who have partnered with farmer-led charity Meet the need.
Meet the Need was launched in 2020 and the idea was simple and urgent: farmers had protein, food banks didn’t have enough of it, and the two could be connected directly.
What began as one channel of livestock donations has, over six years, grown into a national charity connecting farmers, businesses and everyday New Zealanders with communities experiencing food insecurity. They offer many avenues to give - from livestock, milk, cash, virtual donations, payroll giving, bequests, to Farm Source Rewards.
Meet the Need now supplies the essential protein urban and rural foodbanks and community groups rely on. They have delivered more than four million meals, and support 145+ foodbanks and community organisations.
They work with Nourished for Nil, and the Salvation Army Hastings Corp in Tukituki to connect the generosity with the people who need it.
Thank you for all you do in our community.
Thousands of Doors Knocked
Thank you to everyone who has given me such a warm welcome on the doors. I have knocked on thousands of doors over the past few months and loved connecting with so many people across Tukituki.
This election is going to be close, and the choice could not be clearer.
On one hand you have a Labour coalition with four parties, six leaders and nine new taxes or a National Government that is growing the economy, creating jobs and lifting wages with no new taxes.
We can’t leave the job half done. Our plan to fix the basics and build the future for all New Zealanders is working, we need to stick with that plan and encourage everyone to party vote National!
Trick or treat!
So fun to be out trick or treating with my children. We had lots of little ones with us, loving the occasion. Some great houses all decorated.
Stick with the plan that's working
Stick with the Plan that’s Working! The Reserve Bank has decided not to increase interest rates. This is welcome news for many people I am talking to.
With National, a family with a $500,000 mortgage will be around $6,600 better off each year than they would have been three years ago under Labour.
This is thanks to National’s disciplined financial management and stopping the wasteful, inflationary spending - as a result this has helped lower inflation and lower interest rates.
The biggest risk to this progress is a Labour-led coalition with Chloe Swarbrick as Finance Minister, bringing more spending, more borrowing and more taxes.
We’re making good progress and can’t leave the job half done. Let’s stick with the plan that’s working.
Party Vote National.
Lunch with the Hastings RSA Women's Section
I was honoured to be the guest speaker at the Hastings RSA Women's Section. I received a very special welcome, complete with beautiful cupcakes decorated with blue icing and a handmade Christmas cake. The warmth, kindness, and hospitality shown was truly appreciated, and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with such a lovely group of super ladies.
Celebrating success of local students
It's so good to see all the school prizegivings happening across our electorate and it was fabulous to attend Lindisfarne's sports prizegiving on Friday. It's always a great opportunity to celebrate the success of students. We have so many talented students across Tukituki and the future is looking bright.
NATIONAL PARTY POLICIES AND GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
National’s 100 Day Plan to secure our future
National has unveiled 26 actions it will pursue in its first 100 days if re-elected to government, to keep growing the economy, improving frontline public services and cracking down on crime so Kiwis have a more secure future.
National’s 100 Day Plan-
- Introduce our KiwiSaver changes to Parliament.
- Launch our first trade mission to India, with food, beverage and seafood exporters.
- Issue a Budget Policy Statement showing a return to surplus and lower debt and spending.
- Lock in no new taxes and our Budget Responsibility Rules.
- Pass the rates cap, keeping council rates increases within 2–4%.
- Introduce legislation to extend paid parental leave to 27 weeks from July 2027, the first step on the way to 30 weeks, and let parents take leave together.
- Pass legislation to power up the Commerce Commission, and requiring them to report separating Foodstuffs within six months.
- Progress work to finalise new safety rules for plug-in solar, so Kiwis can generate their own cheap power.
- Lift the First Home Loan income cap to $300,000, so more Kiwis can buy with a 5% deposit.
- Reduce student loan repayments from 12 to 10 cents in the dollar.
- Implement changes at Immigration NZ to prioritise and expedite visas for partners of New Zealand citizens.
- Progress development of National’s Home Energy Fund for low-cost solar, battery and insulation loans.
- Boost funding for Pharmac to fund more cancer and life-changing medicines by redirecting foreign aid money.
- Deliver free cervical screening for all women aged 25 to 69, so cervical cancer can be stopped before it starts.
- Set a national clinical trials target, so 5% of cancer patients have part of their care through a trial within ten years.
- Expand the Maths Acceleration Programme.
- Begin work to end the use of screens in early childhood education and limit device use in Years 1–3.
- Develop an implementation plan for a School Start Check, so every child’s strength and need are understood before they start school.
- Pass the first reading of the Online Safety (Minimum Age and Child Safety Risk Assessment) Bill and progress it to select committee.
- Progress the Government’s Public Service Transformation programme.
- Adopt legislation to ban taxpayers’ money being used to fund gangs.
- Begin work on a new offence for staying silent when a child is killed, with up to 10 years in prison.
- Introduce legislation to modernise consent laws, so consent must be actively given.
- Begin work to toughen sentences for sexual offending, so good character or public standing can no longer reduce a sentence.
- Establish a dedicated Auckland Transport Police Team to make buses, trains and ferries safer.
- Introduce legislation to get tough on overseas student loan defaulters, with penalty interest, KiwiSaver restrictions, tougher arrest settings and charges over New Zealand assets.
Great news for students and farming families here in Tukituki
Agriculture and Horticultural Science will be a subject at Year 11, giving young people the chance to develop specialist knowledge and pursue their interests earlier.
It will help prepare students for the Agriculture and Horticultural Science subject in Years 12 and 13, with a new Food and Fibre subject also being developed for Years 12 and 13.
Year 11 Science remains compulsory, and schools can choose to offer Agriculture and Horticultural Science as an optional subject alongside it.
We want rural kids to have plenty of opportunities and options at school, and to see the rewarding careers available in our primary industries.
Public consultation on the new Agriculture and Horticultural Science subject is expected in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out and have your say.
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I look forward to seeing you out in our Tukituki community soon.
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