Dear John,
The election campaign is well underway - in fact voting opens in just 21 days on October 2! As National's Campaign Chair my days start about 5am and finish about midnight - it's fair to say I'll be running on caffeine and adrenaline for the next few weeks. I actually celebrated my birthday on September 4, the day after National launched its election campaign in Auckland. No surprises what I wished for when I blew out the candles on the cake the team had prepared for me...
Hutt South: While I obviously have national responsibilities this time around, I'm fighting hard for every vote in the Hutt and working hard every day to get out and about in the community, which is what I've done for 9 years now. I've been humbled by the number of people offering help on my local campaign - from hosting signs, delivering letters and leaflets, and heaps more. If you'd like to help out in any way, please let me know. There's lots to do and there's lots of ways to be involved, ranging from easy to hard, and from a minimal to an extensive time commitment.
Policy: The first week of the election campaign was dominated by Labour negativity - on Monday last week the CTU launched a full-scale, personal attack on Christopher Luxon and on National more broadly. I got stuck in at a press conference at Parliament (video here if you want to watch it). They kept it up all week and it's a bit sad really that this is all the government has got after six years in office. While Labour was going after National, we released a whole swag of policy which I thought I'd outline here in case you missed them:
- An Electric Vehicle Charging Network: Going from 1000 public EV chargers to 10,000 by 2030, utilising NZ's amazing renewable energy resources. At the same time, we'll abolish Labour's Ute Tax.
- Boosting Tourism: A new Great Walk, e-bike chargers on the NZ Cycle Trail, more working holiday visas, and a focus on regional events.
- Literacy Guarantee: Under a National Government, every child will learn to read using the proven “structured literacy” approach in order to turn around declining educational achievement
All in all, we've got a plan to get New Zealand back on track, strongly focused on reducing the cost of living and rebuilding the economy.
Second Mt Vic Tunnel: I announced on Tuesday that National will fast-track the second Mt Victoria tunnel and get started before the end of our first term. I did a fiery interview with Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB which seems to have gone down well judging by the emails I had - check it out here.
Out and about: Last week was incredibly busy - I enjoyed attending Raksha Bandan celebrations at the Indian High Commission; we had a Meet the Candidates meeting organised by the Hutt Chamber; on Thursday I enjoyed the Janmashtami celebrations at the Indian Hall; I spoke at Business NZ's Election conference on Tuesday, and I spent a night and morning in Palmy North talking to property investors and meeting with community housing providers. This is what it's going to be like for the next few weeks!
Have a great week. I'm around the Hutt all week - come and say hello if you see me around.
Chris
P.S Did you see this adorable video of Jeremy trying to brush Ladyhawke?
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Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis and I joined National candidates Dr Scott Sheeran and Karuna Muthu for some "human hoardings" by the Basin and Mt Vic tunnel on Tuesday!
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Can finally ditch the red shirt! Hit 100 park runs this morning. Goal at start of the year was 100 by the election. Now two more big goals to go…
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Innovative use of corflute...
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How cool is this bus stop in Wood St, Wainuiomata? Some enterprising local has taken my old election signs and turned it into a bus stop!
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New SuperSave in Park Ave
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Cutting the ribbon on the new SuperSave in Park Ave yesterday morning. Now officially open. Well done Lalit and team.
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Celebrating Raksha Bandan with the Hindu Council of Wellington at the Indian High Commission last Saturday.
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Some good news for Wainuiomata residents
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An issue that gets constantly raised with me is the need for a bus stop on The Strand in Wainuiomata by the Retirement Village. Three years ago Metlink basically said a big NO- but I can now report some progress. "Metlink officers are investigating options to improve bus access to the Strand area of Wainuiomata town centre, and we will come back to you both when we have decided on the best course of action." I will keep pushing for this.
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Hutt Chamber Meet the Candidates
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We're getting into the Meet the Candidates meetings in the Hutt now - there's a few coming up. Let me know if you want a list.
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Helen Clark doesn't like me
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Love door-knocking in our beautiful city!
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Watching Daddy on Breakfast TV.
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