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Hi John, here’s your May update. See below for details about a post-budget breakfast with Nicola Willis and a lunch with Simon Watts. Also this month:
A health win for Kāpiti
I'm really proud to announce that I have secured funding for a health shuttle trial between Paraparaumu and both Kenepuru and Wellington hospitals. I'm working locally to finalise the practical details, but this is one of two things I've been promising to fight hard for in health: to get more services delivered locally, and to get better transport connections when we do need to travel to hospital. I'll share more next month as the trial kicks in. Budget '25We are in tough times. Under Labour debt went from $55bn to $175bn. That amounts to an extra $22,000 for every single Kiwi. Outrageous. To put it another way, when Bill English was Finance Minister debt was 5% of GDP. When Grant Robertson finished up it was 42%. Today, every single week NZ borrows an extra $500,000,000. Every single week. That's the inheritance they left us. Just to pay the interest on Labour's debt costs more than we spend every year on Defence and Justice and Customs and Police and Corrections all combined. More than all of it! The Green budget released today by Labour's mates takes on tens of billion in debt and $88bn in extra tax. Absolute insanity. So at the budget next Thursday we will do the right thing. Expect us to keep investing in the important things like health, education, police and defence. Expect us to keep tackling the cost of living. But also expect that we will be responsible and focus on getting the books back to surplus so we don't have to keep borrowing at Labour's record levels, and instead start paying down that awful legacy of debt. Because every dollar spent on debt is a dollar not going to nurses, teachers, police and soldiers. Finally expect us to be set firmly on going for growth. A growing economy also allows us to invest in health and education, and deliver the public services that Kiwis want and deserve. Post-budget breakfast with Nicola Willis
Join Nicola Willis and me for a post-budget breakfast in Kāpiti on Wednesday 11 June. Our Finance Minister will talk you through this year's budget, all over a beautiful breakfast from the team at Anzil. This event is not run by National, so you do need to buy a ticket online. It will be a sell-out so get in early. Some other local opportunities:
Join me for lunch with Simon Watts, Minister of Local Government, Climate Change, and Revenue. Book tickets here.
Calling all young people. Fill in my local Youth MP Aroa's youth survey here. Going after boy-racers
I've been working with local Police to target boy-racers and the idiots who try and take over our roads, seriously injuring some spectators, and disrupting our community. I developed a Member's Bill to turn up the heat on people who take part in, or spectate at, these unsafe and unwanted events. This has been now covered with a new Government bill with new laws and tougher penalties to deter anti-social and intimidating driving. Under these new measures, anyone convicted of illegal street racing, fleeing from Police, or taking part in intimidating convoys will face harsh consequences, including the confiscation or destruction of their vehicle. With these tough new penalties, just one conviction will be enough to have your car destroyed. Police will be able to shut down illegal street gatherings, close roads, and fine people who refuse to leave. Communities have had enough. Dangerous, disruptive driving has no place on our roads. Our message is clear: if you choose to drive dangerously, be prepared to face the consequences. Education update
I was proud to host Minister of Education Erica Stanford in Kāpiti recently. We visited schools in Whitby and Paraparaumu, and met with both principals, teachers, students, and Boards of Trustees. It was a week focussed on ensuring our kids are achieving the very best at school. We announced that we will pay for teacher registrations saving teachers $450 every three years; we are introducing financial literacy to school learning and providing a Parent Portal (click to see it) so parents can understand what children are learning at school, and to provide resources like free books and learning videos for families at home. These new initiatives add to our introduction of structured literacy and maths, the cellphone ban and a new curriculum, with discrete year-by-year goals. All of this is designed to ensure our children leave school with the best possible education and the best chance of succeeding on the world stage. Big budget boost for DefenceWe’ve announced a multi-billion dollar plan for a modern, combat-capable New Zealand Defence Force that pulls its weight internationally and domestically. The Defence Capability Plan outlines what resources, equipment and support we need to modernise the NZDF to operate now and in the future. It covers the next 15 years and deliberately focuses on the next four years, during which we’ve identified planned commitments of $12 billion- including a $9bn increase to baseline funding. Under this plan we will raise defence spending from just over one percent to more than two percent of GDP in the next eight years. The first big announcement as part of this was $2bn for new Navy helicopters.
Local events from the last monthOver the last month I’ve hosted both the Education Minister and the Associate Health Minister in the region, with local visits focused on improving Health and Education for Kāpiti and Horowhenua residents (see my major local win above). I visited the new MSD facility in Kāpiti, met with staff at Hora Te Pai Health Service in Paraparaumu and Ronald McDonald House. I met with Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby, Horowhenua Police, Ōtaki Kindergarten, Horowhenua ECE teachers, several local schools, the health centre, and both Mayors and councils. I also visited various social service providers like He Tangata housing, Homes 4 All dementia care, ASK (A Safer Kāpiti), health shuttles, Levin Over 60s and more. I also saw spent time at the Big Dutch Day Out in Foxton, local markets, Regional Council's Emergency Operations Centre, an investiture at Government House where two local residents received honours, and met with Iwi. I also attended five different Anzac Services, and you can see the highlights here. And the next evening I attended the premier of a locally-made movie 'The People We Love.' If you're looking for a good night out I'd recommend this film to support our local talent like Mike Smith and Sharon Tyrrell.
Upcoming eventsIt's a busy year so let's just get a few markers in the diary nice and early.
That's it for this month. Best wishes,
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