Dear John,
Monday was an amazing day - Chris Luxon, Simeon Brown and I announced our "Transport for the Future" policy and it includes some wonderful news for the Hutt Valley. Here it is. We will:
- Build the Petone to Grenada Link Road and the Cross Valley Link as an integrated package
- Ensure the new Melling Interchange and RiverLink is built
- Investigate a second access road into Wainuiomata
- Investigate a new Stokes Valley-Haywards Connector Road
And in Wellington, we will end the toxic mess that is the oxymoronically named "Let's Get Wellington Moving" and focus on building the improvements Wellington needs. We will build a duplicate Mt Victoria tunnel next to the current one, fix the Basin, widen Ruahine St and Wellington Road, and invest in bus rapid transit and bus priority in Wellington. LGWM has so far delivered a set of traffic lights on SH1 and has wasted millions on consultants.
To say I am delighted with this package would be an understatement. This is the package the Hutt and Wellington needs. The benefits of Petone to Grenada are immense. A few years ago it was ranked as the highest priority road in Wellington, with multiple benefits. It is crucial for resilience, it opens up land for housing, it reduces congestion on SH2 (cuts a Hutt - Porirua journey by 30 mins round trip), it allows public transport from the Hutt to Wellington's northern suburbs, and it will help move freight more efficiently. It complements the Cross Valley Link perfectly, which will take the trucks off the Esplanade and reduce congestion for everyone going from east to west or vice versa across the city.
To make this package happen for the Hutt.. well, you know what to do! And if you want to help out on the campaign to elect a government that will deliver these, please fill out this form and indicate how. There's lots of ways to help, and not many days to go!
Parliament: Parliament has just finished a sitting session, and there's just three weeks to go before it rises for the election. The government looks like it is falling apart. Since I last wrote, the government has lost Kiri Allan as a Minister, Chris Hipkins couldn't even name who was the Minister of Customs, David Parker has resigned as Revenue Minister after he said it was "untenable" due to him supporting a wealth tax, and Labour's plan to take GST off fruit and vegetables was leaked to Nicola Willis. Yesterday afternoon Labour MPs were caught not even knowing what they were debating, in a real procedural SNAFU. It's all very messy, and it looks like the government has run out of puff. In any ordinary week, David Parker's resignation as Revenue Minister due to his disagreement with government policy would be huge news. But there's just so many bad things happening that it slipped under the radar.
Speaking of Parliament, if you want to see a good speech - have a look at Nicola Willis' in a debate on her Member's Bill to introduce flexibility to parental leave arrangements. For unfathomable reasons, Labour voted against it (thus killing the idea). Every other party supported it. The Bill would have allowed parents and caregivers to divide their leave between them, to take their leave at the same time, one after the other or in overlapping instalments, whatever best suits their families, at no extra cost to the taxpayer. Check it out.
Housing: I've been continuing to prosecute the case against the government on housing. Last week I revealed that the government has now spent $1.4 billion housing people in emergency housing motels, and there are 480 families living in cars. The government has made the housing crisis worse through dumb policies like removing interest as an expense for rental properties.. The answer, as I said on a visit to Whanganui, is building more houses across the continuum - more private homes, more rentals, and more social houses. That means ending the war on landlords, unlocking land, building infrastructure, rewarding communities, and backing the community housing sector. That's National's plan.
Around the Hutt: It's been a busy couple of weeks and my focus on the weekends is now door-knocking before the election - so watch out for me and my team in your suburb soon! If you'd like to join the team, then let me know. I'm also on the look-out for places to put up signs around the Hutt - if you've got a fence that would like to host my not-so-pretty mug, as well as Christopher and Nicola's - then please let me know.
Finally, an invitation to a public meeting I'm holding next week at the Petone Rugby Club. The topic is Housing and Infrastructure for the Hutt. Wednesday 9 August from 5.30pm. See you there!
Oh one last thing - I'm at the Riverbank Markets tomorrow morning from 9am to 12pm - swing by for a chat if you're around.
Have a great weekend.
Chris
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Special visitors after Parkrun on Saturday
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Special visitors post Parkrun on Saturday!
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Swing by tomorrow if you're around.
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An excellent visit to Te Puna Wai papākainga housing in Wainuiomata on Thursday morning. Social housing done well and in partnership with the community.
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Election signs can go up from Saturday 12 August and so I'm on the hunt for good sites around the Hutt - can you help? We've created a handy form for people to fill if they can host a sign on a fence - please fill it out here. We just need your address and what type of sign you want and we will do the rest over the weekend of 12/13 August (not far away). Our aim is to turn the Hutt Valley blue!
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On the weekends I door-knock!
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Wainuiomata Rugby Club Prizegiving
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Been a pleasure to sponsor the Wainuiomata Rugby Prem team for the last few years. Got given this awesome hoodie at the prizegiving on Saturday night.
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Filling in for the boss at a "Back on Track" meeting in Timaru last week. He was meeting Australian PM Anthony Albanese at the time.
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Sunday brunch at Flint Social Petone with the wee boy. Great new spot on Jackson St. Dog and kid friendly too!
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