Dear John,
I hope you had an enjoyable and restful Easter. Parliament is currently in recess for the school holidays, Easter and ANZAC Day, so I don't have anything from the debating chamber to report! Politics hasn't stopped though - on Wednesday we launched the first part of National's Agriculture policy, called "Getting back to Farming". New Zealand has among the world’s most carbon-efficient farmers, but since being elected in 2017, Labour has tied farmers up in red tape, introducing more than 20 new or updated rules that have added compliance costs, without any meaningful environmental change. Our package of 19 changes backs farmers while protecting the environment and we're really proud of it - check it out online and see what you think.
The other big news this week was the fact that inflation is now at 6.7% annually. It says something about our economy that that is being celebrated in some quarters - remember, it's meant to be between 1-3% but inflation has now been out of control for 24 months, even while interest rates have been pummelling Kiwis with ever blunter force. New Zealand is now experiencing its highest recorded rate of domestic (or non-tradeable) inflation ever - at 6.8 per cent for the year. Sadly, the government’s stubborn refusal to rein in spending, reduce costs or fix worker shortages has fuelled our home-grown inflation fire, helping constant price rises become entrenched in our economy.
Three Waters: Last week the government published their revised plans for 3 Waters - it's being spun as a major change, but the reality is it's substantially the same package as before, all they've done is changed the name and changed the website. The two main elements National disagrees with are the mandatory co-governance for all of the new entities (divisive and unnecessary) and the confiscation of local assets. We agree with regional groupings but our view is that it would be better left to Councils to work out the arrangements, and for ownership to remain with Councils and local communities. Our 3 Waters plan is called "Local Water Done Well" and you can see it here. It is comprehensive, enjoys the support of many Councils, and has been designed with experts.
On the topic of 3 Waters, it was quite alarming to see Kieran McAnulty say on the weekend that “There are provisions that we have in this country that wouldn’t stand up to a purely academic democratic framework but that’s not how we work in New Zealand.” My take is the actual Treaty of Waitangi is a good starting point. Article three is about equality of citizenship. We are all equal. Once we drift away from that, we are all in trouble. Paul Goldsmith had a good op-ed in the Herald on this topic here.
Public Meeting on Law and Order: You've probably seen the signs around the Hutt - on Thursday May 4 Emma Chatterton and I are hosting National's Police and Corrections Spokesperson, Hon Mark Mitchell, for a public meeting on Law and Order. I know crime is a big issue in the Hutt Valley as it is right across the country - I couldn't believe last week that some frontline police have been told to “consider the necessity of arrests” in some circumstances because Rimutaka prison is nearly full! Please come along to hear from Mark and discuss National's solutions.
The meeting will be at the Ricoh Sports Centre (Fraser Park Sportsville) on Thursday May 4 from 7pm. Hope to see you there!
Fundraising Dinner: Finally this week, I've got a fundraising dinner coming up on Wednesday 10 May with Christopher Luxon and Emma Chatterton, our Remutaka candidate. This is our major annual fundraiser for the year and you're very welcome to come along. Please buy a ticket online here or drop me an email
I hope you have a good weekend - and I hope to see you at an ANZAC service this Tuesday.
P.S I am still getting emails from people who saw my April Fools' joke a couple of weeks ago and took it seriously! Just for the record, I am definitely NOT resigning - I am looking forward to campaigning hard in Hutt South and trying to win back the seat!
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