Vale John Terris, Driver Licence changes, Waitangi Day, and more

Dear John

I can't believe we're in February already! January came and went in the proverbial blink of an eye. It's certainly been a busy couple of weeks with Parliament back (for a week), Waitangi festivities and discussions, response and recovery work underway on the East Coast, and some important announcements.

First off, I do want to acknowledge the sad passing of former Hutt MP and Mayor John Terris, who died a few days ago. He was a good friend to me and I will really miss him. He became Mayor as I entered my teenage years and my Dad helped out as part of the ‘Terris Team’ so I remember him well sitting in our living room in Kings Cres talking about the issues of the day. After I became an MP in 2014 he offered me a lot of advice and knowledge. My condolences to Katie and his family. Their loss is also Lower Hutt’s loss.

Driver Licence Changes: Big announcement from me this week about changes to our driver licence rules. In short, we're scrapping the requirement to do a second practical test to go from your restricted to your full licence (most countries don't require this). The cost will reduce by $80, a nice little cost saving at a tough time for many. The flip side is a longer learner period (12 months, with an option to reduce with supervised hours or a driving course), a zero alcohol limit for all learner and restricted drivers, regardless of age, and a requirement for 12 months of clean driving (no demerits) before graduating up to a full license. The AA came out in support and I know a lot of young people will welcome the changes! It's the first major update to our licence laws since 2011 and I've enjoyed working on quite a complicated issue for a few months.

Severe Weather Recovery: The clean-up after the severe weather that battered Coromandel, Northland and the East Coast over summer is well underway. A big thank you to everyone working on the response effort. I joined the PM and Chris Penk (who is helping Mark Mitchell on the response and recovery) to visit the East Coast last week and check things out first hand, particularly the roading network. Fair to say there's a lot of work required, particularly on the Waioweka Gorge and SH35. There were more slips on the gorge route a couple of days ago. The crews are working around the clock to get it open, as it is critical freight and supply route. SH35 is going to be a real challenge and until the teams can get in there and assess things properly it's really too early to say anything else.

By the way - the government has signalled there will be an independent government inquiry into the fatal landslide at the campground in Mount Maunganui, which I strongly support.

Three other pieces of news you might have missed:

Very good to see that residential building consents are at their highest level since late 2022– up 21% since December of 2024. Construction has had a hard few years with high interest rates - but the sector is now turning a corner like the rest of the economy
12 month prescriptions: Starting on February 1, those with stable, long term conditions can get a repeat prescription for up to 12 months instead of just 3, saving time and money.
New Zealand’s exports in the year to December 2025 were $80 billion - the first time ever. Up $10 billion in a year!

Around the Hutt: The shared path connecting Ngauranga and Petone is coming along well, as is the Eastern Bay Shared Path. They're targeting April opening dates for both projects and I'm looking forward to it.

The Petone Fair is coming up in a couple of weeks on Saturday February 21. I'll be there as per usual selling sausages as a fundraiser for the Holocaust Centre of NZ, a very worthy cause. Come down and say hello!

Finally, a comment on the traffic in the Hutt for the last week or so. What a shocker! Obviously the Melling and RiverLink work is hugely disruptive (but has to be done) but there was a "perfect storm" of that work, plus many people going back to work, school going back, AND work on electricity lines being done all at the same time. I've said to the Council and NZTA that we need maximum coordination around the work so disruption is kept to a minimum.

Wherever you are this Waitangi Day - have a relaxing long weekend. See you soon.

Chris

P.S Did you see this great little profile of Jackson St?

Beaming in from Waitangi

I've just got back from a couple of days in Waitangi.

Looking good... not long to go now

The Petone to Ngauranga Seawall and shared path is coming along very well! Not long to go now. It is going to be a great asset for the Hutt and Wellington.

Farewell to Judith

My friend Judith Collins is sadly leaving politics and taking up a job as President of the Law Commission. Judith has been a MP for 24 years and served as a Minister in government for 12 years across the Key, English and Luxon governments. She has held a huge number of roles in this time and her departure is a big loss for the government. See my full message here.

Visiting Te Araroa in Tairāwhiti

Great to meet the hard working team in Te Araroa in Tairāwhiti the other day with the PM, Chris Penk MP and Dana Kirkpatrick, the MP for East Coast (we also dropped off medical and other much needed supplies).
Was really good to get on the ground to see the damage first hand, particularly to the roading network.

Vale John Terris

Very sad to hear about the passing of John Terris. John loved the Hutt and served us well as both an MP and Mayor. He became Mayor as I entered my teenage years and my Dad helped out as part of the ‘Terris Team’ so I remember him well sitting in our living room in Kings Cres talking about the issues of the day. After I became an MP in 2014 he offered me a lot of advice and knowledge. My condolences to Katie and his family. Their loss is also Lower Hutt’s loss. Photo is from 2014 on the election trail!

Have you checked out Crust?

Crust at the Eastbourne Sports and Services Club (ESSC) is a lovely spot. Awesome sandwiches made fresh to order, great coffee, delicious treats - and look at that view. Mark and Rebecca (of ESSC Eats fame) have created a little gem here.

SHE Trust Awards

The SHE Trust was established in 1993 when all of the local Hutt MPs were women (Joy Quigley, nee McLauchlan, Sonja Davies, and Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan), to mark 100 years of Women's Suffrage. It presents annual awards to women in the Hutt leaving school and going onto tertiary study (or returning to study). The 2026 awards were presented last week Congrats to Jodie Govind, Aurelia Tufuga, Elsie-Rose Morrison and Lily Pritchard.

New social housing #1

While in the Far North for a range of meetings and events for Waitangi, I visited newly completed social housing delivered by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rēhia Trust. These homes were funded through Budget 2024 as part of our commitment to delivering an additional 1500 homes through Community Housing Providers.
The development includes six new two‑ and three‑bedroom homes. They were ready for tenants just over a week ago, and five of the six are already occupied, with the final home due to be tenanted this week. The Far North has a high housing need, so we know these homes are being delivered in the right places where they are genuinely needed.

New social housing #2

Was great to be in Masterton last Monday with local MP Mike Butterick to break ground on eight new Trust House social homes. On this site were two old houses - soon there will four two bedroom and four one bedroom homes, exactly what Masterton needs.

Fun at the fair

How good are dodgems! Lots of fun with Jeremy at the circus in Upper Hutt.

Copyright © 2026 Chris Bishop MP, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this as a supporter, friend or colleague of Chris Bishop MP.

Our mailing address is:

Chris Bishop MP

66 Bloomfield Terrace

Hutt City

Lower Hutt, Wellington 5010

New Zealand

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.