Thrive 2025!
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Dear John

In this issue:

* Minister's News

* In the House

* Electorate News

* Upcoming Engagement Opportunities

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MINISTER'S NEWS

It’s certainly been a busy month in my Ministerial portfolios, with a number of
actions having synergy with the Taupō electorate, helping drive economic growth
across our region.


TOURISM TURBOCHARGE



During an incredibly successful and fun visit to Weta Unleashed in Auckland with
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, I was excited to announce a $13.5 million
investment for Tourism New Zealand to attract more international visitors –
particularly from China, Australia, the United States, India, Germany and South
Korea.

This campaign is estimated to result in more than 23,000 additional
international visitors who will spend an extra $100 million across the country.

Boosting tourism means more people staying in our hotels, eating in our cafés,
spending in our shops and visiting our attractions, which creates jobs and
drives economic growth.

We have so many amazing tourism hotspots across our fantastic electorate and I’m
excited to encourage more visitors to see what the region offers – whether
that’s jet boating at Huka Falls, visiting the mud pools at Craters of the Moon,
outlet shopping in Tīrau or kayaking on Lake Karapiro/getting up close and
personal with nature at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari ecological island.


TOURISM BOOST

Earlier in April, I announced a $2.45 million boost to regional tourism
organisations to help regions host events for both international and domestic
tourists.

Partner organisations for this initiative include Hamilton and Waikato Tourism,
Destination Great Lake Taupō and Visit Ruapehu.

Tourism and hospitality are crucial to growing our economy and this regional
boost will be key for our regional tourism areas including the Taupō electorate.



Cruise ships contribute to New Zealand's tourism and economic growth.


DISABILITY WORKING GROUPS

Disability groups continue to advocate strongly for their sector.  

It was an honour to speak at the recent annual Parliamentary Breakfast to
promote autism awareness and acceptance, amplify autistic voices, and ensure
autism is visible to all MPs and policy makers. It’s estimated around 82,000 New
Zealanders meet the diagnostic criteria for autism. I thank Autism New Zealand
for the opportunity.  

It was also great to meet up with some ‘local’ people at the event, including
patron Eric Murray (below right) who is a passionate supporter of this important
cause.





REFRESHED NZ DISABILITY STRATEGY

There has been strong interest nationwide in refreshing the New Zealand
Disability Strategy and I was pleased to recognise 26 members and five chairs of
the new draft strategy working groups – Education, Employment, Health, Housing
and Justice.

The purpose of the strategy is to improve the lives of disabled people. Like
everyone else, they want to participate in their communities, to thrive and make
decisions about their own lives.

This refresh represents huge opportunities to make positive differences in many
disabled people's lives.

There will be opportunities to review the draft later this year.


NEW ZEALAND SIGN LANGUAGE CONSULTATION

The draft New Zealand Sign Language strategy is open for consultation
[link removed] until 2 June.
The strategy will drive the work of the NZSL Board for the next five years as it
strives to ensure members of the Deaf community have the assistance they need.
See my press release delivered in NZSL here
[link removed]


VETERANS' SERVICE AWARDS

I was honoured to commemorate Anzac Day in Tokoroa this year.



Anzac Day is a particularly important anniversary for New Zealanders, where we
reflect on the costs of service and sacrifice and honour those who have served,
some of whom gave their lives for our country.

This month, Government announced it will introduce legislation to formally
recognise more former soldiers, sailors and aviators as veterans. We will also
establish a national day dedicated to honouring New Zealand’s veterans, which
will be marked annually with Veterans’ Service Awards.

This marks meaningful progress toward a future where those who have served feel
recognised and valued by the nation they served to protect.

Lest we forget.


CHILD-FRIENDLY CHILD AND YOUTH STRATEGY



Today I visited Cambridge Middle School to launch the child-friendly version of
the Child and Youth Strategy – our Government’s plan to improve the lives of
young Kiwis and create social and economic prosperity for New Zealand’s current
and future generations.

The Strategy priorities are:

* supporting children and their families and whānau in the first 2,000 days

* reducing child material hardship

* preventing harm against children.

New Zealand is stronger when its people are skilled and educated, healthy and
resilient, and our families and communities are thriving.


PARLY FERNS

The netball season has begun with the Parly Ferns first game against Charlie's
Angels in Hamilton. To even the numbers, I swapped sides and played for
Charlie's Angels.

One of the charities the match supported was Sands New Zealand, a network of
non-profit groups which support families who have lost babies.



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IN THE HOUSE


RURAL ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS

Farmers whose incomes have been severely affected by drought can apply for Rural
Assistance Payments (until 28 October 2025) to help with essential living costs.
Apply through your local Rural Support Trust
[link removed]


SAFER COMMUNITIES

We are starting to see the results of providing extra tools to the police and
the courts to go after gangs, bringing back a revised three strikes sentencing
regime, restoring real consequences for crime by limiting sentence discounts,
and scrapping Section 27 reports.

The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey shows that for the year to
February, there were 157,000 victims of violent crime. This is 28,000 fewer
victims than the baseline set in October 2023.

While it is 157,000 victims too many, it is much better than forecast!


TREATY PRINCIPLES BILL

When forming our coalition Government, National agreed to support ACT's Treaty
Principles Bill as far as its first reading and select committee, but not
beyond. We stuck to that agreement. The Bill was rejected at its second reading
on 10 April.

Our focus is on growing the economy so there are more jobs, higher wages, and
more money in people’s back pockets. 


EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION

Following some major emergencies in recent years, Government is seeking public
feedback on strengthening New Zealand’s emergency management legislation so it
meets the growing risk of severe weather events and other emergencies

A new Emergency Management Bill to replace the Civil Defence Emergency
Management Act 2002 will be put before the House this term.

Everyone has a role to play in emergency management as individuals or as part of
an organisation. We all have different strengths, knowledge, resources and
strategies, so we'd appreciate it if you could share your ideas here
[link removed]


BUDGET 2025

Supporting economic growth will be Government's main goal for Budget 2025
(delivered 22 May).

Alongside keeping a tight rein on spending, we are relentlessly focussed on
growing New Zealand's wealth so we can have access to better public services
like healthcare and education.

Our specific actions fall under five key themes:

* Developing talent

* Competitive business settings

* Innovation, technology and science

* Overseas investment and trade

* Infrastructure for growth

When deciding on spending, we always ask ourselves two questions:

1. Can this spending be justified when we are borrowing to pay for it?

2. Can we be sure this spending will do more good in this area than if invested
in our priority areas like funding essential health services, better
education for our kids, defending New Zealand’s security or ensuring our
future growth?

At the Half Year Update, Treasury forecast the “allowance” in Budget 2025 would
be $2.4 billion, but Government has reduced the size of our Budget 2025
operating allowance to $1.3 billion to avoid further debt and the cost of
servicing it while still enabling us to achieve a forecast surplus in 2029.

Budget 2025 will still deliver increased investment in priority areas like
health, education, law and order, defence, business growth and targeted
cost-of-living relief, but given global volatility we are sticking to
responsible policies that provide stability, support investment and make New
Zealand an attractive place for the world to trade and do business with.


FINANCIAL LITERACY IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Financial Literacy, so essential to our everyday lives, will be embedded in the
Year 1–10 Social Sciences curriculum and guidance and resources will be provided
to support schools to flexibly deliver ongoing financial education for Year
11–13 students.

Feedback on the draft curriculum will be available in Term 4, and the final
version will be available for use in 2026.

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ELECTORATE NEWS


TAUPŌ HOSPITAL TRAINING RURAL DOCTORS

Following success on the West Coast, Taupō Hospital has been accredited to
deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training to help
increase the number of rural generalist doctors with the broad skills needed to
support its rural communities.

The programme has been successfully running in Te Tai o Poutini West Coast,
attracting health professionals wanting to upskill.

This new accreditation complements the existing pathway for New Zealand doctors
through the New Zealand Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme.


ITM TAUPŌ SUPER 440 MOTOR RACING

It was an honour to present New Zealander Matt Payne the winning trophy at the
Supercars on 13 April. The trophies were designed and carved by local whakairo
artist Delani Brown.



It was great to see so many racing enthusiasts enjoying the electric atmosphere
and superb weather – such a contrast with the wet 2024 event!

This event draws visitors from across the country and the world to Taupō.


KINLEITH PM6 PAPER MACHINE CLOSURE: PROJECT PHOENIX

I continue to work with the Project Phoenix team (led by South Waikato District
Council and the Ministry of Social Development) to discuss supporting Oji Fibre
Solutions employees who will lose their employment when paper production ceases
at Kinleith Mill.



A community event was held on 23 April at the South Waikato Sport and Events
Centre in Tokoroa so that affected workers and their whanau could meet those in
the community who can provide services and support.


YOUTH MP

I'm pleased to announce this term's Taupō electorate Youth MP Ryder Miller
(Tokoroa). I'm looking forward to working with him over the coming months.



His first foray into the role was at the Tokoroa Anzac Service (see pictured
below with South Waikato District Council Mayor Gary Petley and me).

He will engage with other young people in the electorate to gather their ideas
and bring those views to Youth Parliament on 1–2 July in the Parliamentary
precinct in Wellington, experiencing first-hand what it’s like to be at the
highest decision-making table in the country.


YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD

Senior high school students from across the electorate are invited to attend my
second Youth Advisory Board in Tokoroa on 13 June. Different material will be
covered in this session than was covered at the beginning of April. The YAB is
an opportunity for students to learn about New Zealand’s parliamentary system
and democracy. It is also a chance for me to gauge students’ views on current
affairs so I can accurately represent them in Parliament.

Schools have been sent information and will be advising students of details. If
you need further information, please get in touch with one of my offices
(details below).


TOKOROA ANZAC SERVICE

It's always sobering to attend an Anzac service and reflect on the lives lost,
and still being lost, during war.




SPEED LIMIT RETURNS

After considering public submissions, the Minister of Transport has decided the
Napier-Taupō Road speed limit will return to 100km/h from 1 July and Taupō to
Turangi will also return to 100km/h.


CAMBRIDGE AUTUMN FESTIVAL

The Cambridge Autumn Festival is such a great opportunity to see the depth and
breadth of talent in our artistic community. Artists of all stripes play such an
important role in enriching our lives and making us see things in new ways.

Congratulations to Jan Mackenzie on winning the Short Story competition with her
tale "A Little Less of Lonely". Jan won the competition last year too!


GROWING NATIVE FORESTS AWARDS

Nominations for the inaugural Growing Native Forests Champions Awards open 15
April and close 9 May 2025.

The winning farmers, landowners, iwi, and community groups who are restoring and
planting native forests and helping bolster New Zealand’s biodiversity and land
resilience will be announced at Fieldays in June.

Details of categories and nominations are here
[link removed]


ROADWORKS


SH1 TĪRAU TO WAIOURU

I think you'll agree, State Highway 1 is looking (and feeling) fantastic after
119 lane kilometres of road between Tīrau and Waiouru have been rehabilitated or
resealed over the summer months!

Thank you for your patience during this time!

The Tīrau to Waiouru project is part of the Government’s $2.07 billion Pothole
Prevention fund. Around 5,670 pothole repairs were needed in the last couple of
years! Continuing to patch potholes does not make economic sense.

We're taking a stitch-in-time approach. In some areas, the road has been
completely rebuilt.

At the project’s peak, 32 contracting firms were working at once and 145
truckloads of roading metal were being delivered every day across the closed
sections of state highway.

Four years of roadworks are being condensed into two road maintenance seasons.
In September, final surfacing will be completed under stop/go controls and/or at
night, and more maintenance and road rebuilding will be done between Taupō and
Tūrangi, and in the Tīrau and Tokoroa townships.

The work between Taupō to Tūrangi will not involve a full 24/7 road closure.

Detour routes used while work was being done on SH1 have deteriorated faster
than normal due to the extra traffic. NZTA Waka Kotahi and the South Waikato
District Council have been working on repairs.


TAUPŌ COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SAFETY CENTRE

Five sites leading to the Taupō Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre are having
in-road weighing technology installed and these will be coned off for 30 days
from late April/early May to cure the asphalt before the technology is
installed.


NZTA UPDATES

Work has begun on a right-turn bay (southbound) from SH5 onto Waimakariri Road
(between Whites Road and Harwoods Road) so take care when travelling this
stretch, particularly at night.

Visit the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Journey Planner
[link removed]
webpage to see when and where detours are in place and how much extra time you
need to add to your journey.

You can subscribe to NZTA Waka Kotahi updates here
[link removed]


ATTENDING EVENTS

If you are organising an event that you would like me to attend, please contact
my office well in advance (details below). My calendar fills up quickly!

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UPCOMING ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES


FACEBOOK LIVE

Join me online to discuss the issues that currently concern you on the second
Tuesday of each month. 

To join my next live chat, head to Louise Upston MP | Facebook
[link removed] on Tuesday 13 May 2025 at 8 p.m. and
type your questions or comments.

You can watch the last Facebook Live here
[link removed]

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CLINICS

Note: Dates are subject to change.


CAMBRIDGE CLINIC

Friday 2 May, 2:00–3:30p.m.

Please call 07 827 5572 or email [email protected]
[email protected] for an appointment.


SOUTH WAIKATO CLINIC (TOKOROA)

Friday, 9 May, 2:00–3:30p.m.

Please call 07 8865554 or email [email protected]
[email protected] for an appointment.


TAUPŌ CLINIC

Friday 16 May, 2:00–3:30p.m.

Please call 07 3765563 or email [email protected]
[email protected] for an appointment.

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ELECTORATE ASSISTANCE

Cambridge Office:

Phone 07 8275572 or email [email protected]
[email protected]

South Waikato:

Phone 07 8865554 or email [email protected]
[email protected]

Taupō Office:

Phone 07 3765563 or email [email protected]
[email protected]

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Louise Upston
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