Dear John,
I'm writing this from Christchurch where I've spent the last two days at the big Building Nations Infrastructure conference, where Christopher Luxon and I launched National's "Infrastructure for the Future" policy, and at the annual Property Institute conference. It's been a big couple of days as I've spoken on multiple political panels and given multiple speeches - and I've missed all the fun at Parliament, which has been dominated by Michael Wood's Auckland Airport shares debacle, and Jan Tinetti appearing before Parliament's Privileges committee.
Michael Wood's shares shemozzle is truly extraordinary. Many will wonder why on earth it matters, and that it's a distraction from the big issues facing New Zealand like cost of living and crime. In one sense that's true. But standards in public life do matter. We have rules around Ministerial and parliamentary conflicts of interest for a reason. MPs are obliged to disclose gifts they receive, shares they own, even mortgages and superannuation schemes. The rules are even tighter for Ministers, reflecting their increased importance. The fact that Michael Wood was told by the Cabinet office to sell his shares twelve times (and he didn't) is just utterly amazing. In essence, he misled the Prime Minister's office saying he had sold the shares, he misled a journalist over the shares, he filed multiple false pecuniary interests' returns, and he fobbed off the Cabinet Office 12 times over 30 months. You might well ask, why is he still a Minister? Good question.
The case of Education Minister Jan Tinetti is also appalling. It's a complicated saga, but basically Tinetti and her office delayed the release of education attendance data until they could announce a policy at the same time, hoping the policy news would crowd out the bad attendance data. Erica Stanford has been digging into this, and found out that the Minister's office had set all that up, even though Tinetti told Parliament she had nothing to do with it. Once that was proven, she didn't bother to correct the Parliamentary record for a couple of months - which means she potentially mislead Parliament. The Speaker has referred her to Parliament's Privileges Committee - she's the first Minister to appear before it since 2008. I'm actually on the committee but due to being in Christchurch, couldn't question her about it today. Watch this space.
So while Labour's had a shocking week, National has been announcing policy for the election. I'm really proud of our "Infrastructure for the Future" policy which is about addressing our big infrastructure deficit. Labour has talked a big game, but has basically spent six years cutting ribbons on projects started by National, and has focused on vanity projects like light rail (still yet to even start!). Our plan involves:
- A National Infrastructure Agency to coordinate government funding, connect domestic and offshore investors with New Zealand infrastructure, and improve funding, procurement and delivery.
- Innovative funding and financing tools to boost investment in infrastructure, and create investment opportunities for ACC, the NZ Super Fund and KiwiSaver funds.
- National, City and Regional Deals to partner with local Government to create long-term pipelines of regional projects.
- A fast-track consents process to make it easier to build the infrastructure New Zealand needs for the future.
- A 30-year infrastructure pipeline to deliver long-term certainty, enable more effective planning, and reduce project costs.
Much more in the comprehensive policy document here, and we have further announcements coming too.
Around the Hutt: It's been a busy couple of weeks around the Hutt. I really enjoyed the Filipino festival at the Walter Nash on the weekend, as well as the unveiling of eight new plaques on Petone's "Walk of Champions" on Jackson St. A busy weekend coming up too - I'll be at the Riverbank Markets tomorrow morning with Emma Chatterton (come say hello if you're around) and I'm looking forward to the McBain Shield between Hutt Old Boys' and Petone on Saturday afternoon. Talking of Petone - a big congrats to legends Andy Leslie and Barry Pickering on their King's Birthday Honours awards - well done!
Have a great weekend and see you soon.
Chris
P.S Some good feedback on my speech in last week's Budget debate - watch it here.
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You're invited to our next public meeting with Erica Stanford, talking Education and Immigration. Tuesday 27 June at 7pm at Silverstream School Hall. Look forward to seeing you there.
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Sacred Heart Young Enterprise Team
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Meet Unite Publications, a Young Enterprise team from Sacred Heart College. Jasmin, Ysabelle, Mckayla, Paris and Zara are selling amazing English language starter books. It’s designed for refugees and new immigrants to NZ and is really interactive and educational. A really great idea - well done!
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Intercity Filipino Festival
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Wonderful Wellington Intercity Filipino festival on at the Walter Nash on the weekend. Great to see Wellington’s thriving Kiwinoy community!
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Morning Tea in Maungaraki
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Thanks to those who came to my morning tea in Maungaraki last week. Good to chat about the issues of the day! If you’d like to be added to my list for these morning teas please flick me a message.
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Delivering letters around the Hutt
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Spent a couple of hours on the weekend delivering letters to voters in the Hutt about National’s plans to get NZ back on track. Flick me a message if you’d like to help me deliver letters and leaflets!
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The Walk of Champions in Petone started 31 years ago and honours Petone sporting legends who played for NZ. Eight plaques were unveiled on Saturday, all Petone Football representatives, the same weekend as their 125th anniversary (and 50 years of women’s football). Thank you to the Jackson St Programme and Nik Zangouropoulos, local historian, for all you do to preserve our history.
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Congrats to George McCarroll on your award as Young Sportsman of the Year at the Hutt Valley Sports Awards! Photo by BradyDyer.com.
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Special visitor at Parkrun
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Was a much nicer run than last Saturday morning in the cold and wet!
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Visit to Metco Engineering
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With Andrew Bayly MP at great Hutt company Metco last week. Right in the heart of the Hutt, aka "Technology Valley." It’s unbelievable all the companies that Metco makes things for - including RocketLab.
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The things you see at public meetings...
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The world needs more Muzz McDowells!
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She loves going for walks with Jeremy!
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