Government must take a position on Venezuela
New Zealand must choose a side in the escalating situation in Venezuela, National’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson Todd McClay says. “We have now seen waves of mass protests by Venezuelans who...
Behind the hype, slush fund creates just 54 jobs
Shane Jones’ Provincial Growth Fund has created just 54 jobs in its first year, making a mockery of the Government’s claim to be helping regional New Zealand, National’s Economic...
Pharmac funding cuts stop new drugs, costs lives
Pharmac’s ability to fund new cancer drugs would be much greater if the Government hadn’t cut $200 million from the medicines budget, National’s Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says. “A report...
Open letter to PM to protect Northland children from Meningitis
An open letter in the Northern Advocate today urges the Prime Minister to vaccinate the 20,000 Northland children who are currently ineligible for the Meningitis vaccine, Shane Reti, MP for...
National to hold 40 education public meetings
There has been huge interest from communities since National announced its Future of Education public meetings with a focus on the Tomorrow’s Schools proposals and wider education issues, National’s Education...
More confusion over regional roads
The investment from the Provincial Growth fund for transport links in Kaipara will no doubt be welcomed by local residents but the Government’s overall approach to roading in Northland makes...
Government keeps ignoring reality on E-Cigarettes
New research that proves that electronic cigarettes are far more effective than existing cessation tools shows the Government must move urgently to make e-cigarettes more available as to smokers who...
Government’s new tourist tax will hurt industry
Tourism has been at record levels but anecdotal signs of a slowdown mean the last thing the Government should be doing is imposing new taxes on tourists, National’s Tourism spokesperson...
CTV building appeal disappointing
An appeal lodged this week against the High Court decision to allow the Institute of Professional Engineers to complete its inquiry into the professional standards of engineering on the CTV...
Let’s face reality on the cost to ratepayers
The Government needs to put ratepayers at the front of the discussion when it comes to its response to the report released today on climate change adaptation, National’s Local Government...