Dear John,
Today marks 100 days of the new government and I gotta tell you, I'm exhausted. I've been working around the clock over the last month to make sure we deliver our 100 Day Action Plan through the Parliament, as well as my own policy areas of housing, RMA Reform and Infrastructure. In the last 100 days we've accomplished a huge amount. Christopher Luxon said we'd be a government that gets things done, and we are certainly getting on with the job. You can see our list of achievements here - we've done all the 49 things that we said we would.
In my own area it's been a massive couple of weeks. Yesterday I unveiled our new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime. Shane Jones, Simeon Brown and I have done probably two years of work in about two months on this. The new regime will cut through the red tape and green tape that is holding the country back. It'll allow Ministers to refer regionally and nationally significant projects to expert panels for resource consents and all the other necessary permits to build things like new roads, public transport, renewable energy, and big housing projects. The reality is that consenting in New Zealand costs way too much time and costs way too much. As the PM says, we've become an obstruction economy. Our new regime will make it easier to grow the economy and raise our living standards. You can read my press release here. Expect a bit of fiery debate on this, but it'll be worth it!
Emergency Housing: On Wednesday alongside Louise Upston and Tama Potaka I announced our new "Priority One" category for families in emergency housing with kids. 3000 families live in motels around the country and it's a public policy disaster that we've inherited from the previous government. It costs the government around $1 million per day and in the last 5 years the government has spent $1.5 billion - a staggering amount of money. Our new policy will mean families in motels with kids go to the top of the queue for social housing - and we will be tightening the eligibility for emergency housing at the same time. It's just the first step we're taking to end the blight on our country that is emergency housing. There's more to come and we need to be radical and be bold. Read more here.
Petone to Grenada and Cross Valley Link: On Monday Simeon Brown launched the government's new Transport Policy Statement, which contains 15 new Roads of National Significance we'll build around the country. I'm absolutely delighted that Petone to Grenada and the Cross Valley Link in the Hutt are both on the list, alongside the second Mt Victoria tunnel in Wellington! These are game changers for our region and projects I've pushed for years. See the Dom Post coverage here (it was on the front page yesterday). It's good to see Mayor Campbell Barry welcoming the news about the CVL - he and I have been pushing it for a long time and we're on a unity ticket together on this one.
Housing Growth: On Tuesday last week I gave my first big speech as Housing Minister to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. I outlined National's housing agenda - unlocking land for housing inside and at the edge of cities, new infrastructure tools, and incentives for housing growth. I also announced that I'll be the decision-maker on plan changes that councils are currently going through, including in Wellington. This led to a hilarious DomPost headline - "Labour, Green Councillors pleased that Chris Bishop will decide on housing plan" (there's a first time for everything I guess) and some pretty positive coverage about our ambitious agenda. There's lots of work to do and plenty of tough decisions ahead but I'm up for the challenge. Increasing housing is absolutely critical for our future.
Around the Hutt: That's enough about the things the government is up to - it's also been a big couple of weeks locally. I hosted Judith Collins in the Hutt last Friday for a business meeting and SuperBlues morning tea, and we called in on the Hutt Chamber of Commerce to talk about technology and innovation. I managed to get a date night in with Jenna at the new Abandoned Brewery Taproom in the old OnTrays Building in Petone - well worth a visit if you're into reuben sandwiches and delicious cold beer.
And I have to admit I did slip in a few hours watching the cricket at the Basin... the less said about the result about the better, but getting on the mic and doing some commentary on SENZ Radio was a bit of a childhood dream come true. Sometimes this job does produce some special moments!
Enjoy your weekend, and as always, please reach out if you need help with anything.
Chris
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Backyard Cricket at Premier House
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Christopher Luxon and I had the pleasure of hosting the New Zealand and Australian Cricket teams at Premier House last Monday. So good to welcome the Aussies back to New Zealand... and the backyard cricket was awesome too! Shame about the result in the test the Basin.
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Usman Khawaja bowled me a few balls... plumb LBW I'm sorry to say!
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Fast Track Consenting Bill
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The PM, Shane Jones, Simeon Brown and I at the Basin Reserve (Mt Vic Tunnel in the background) launching our new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime.
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P2G and Cross Valley Link are go!
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The government's new Transport Policy Statement names 15 new roads around the country as "Roads of National Significance" that will be prioritised for funding over the next decade. It's incredibly exciting to see P2G and the Cross Valley Link on the list!
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Going for Housing Growth Policy Speech
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It’s my view that one of the most important things we can do to rebuild New Zealand’s economy is to fix our housing crisis. More here.
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Clubs Week at Victoria University
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Nicola Willis and I met up with the Victoria University Debating Society for Clubs Week. Fun fact - we both met our respective better halves through debating!
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Guest Commentating on SENZ with Smithy & Daniel McHardy
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Growing up I wanted to either play for New Zealand or be a cricket commentator. The first one isn't going to happen but maybe the second one is a goer if politics doesn't work out.
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Date Night at Abandoned Brewing
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Date night last night at the Abandoned Brewery Taproom in Petone. In the old OnTrays building and they’ve kept the OnTrays famous reubens and a couple of other sandwiches, plus fries, fried chicken and more.
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Hutt Chamber of Commerce CEO Patrick McKibbin and Mark Skelly from RedHot Business Coaching & Consultancy met with Judith Collins and I to talk about technology in the Hutt. A great meeting and very productive conversations.
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'Rock A Mullet Challenge' this March
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It's not a "Joe Dirt" movie sequel, it's 'Rock a Mullet Challenge' this March. Jenna and Jeremy raising funds for mental health at Wellington Airport.
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On our Breakfast TV segment with Kieran McAnulty last week I handed over a wedding present - a box of Parrotdog 'Greyhound' beer (he has a lovely greyhound) and a bottle of Ata Rangi Pinot Noir (a great Wairarapa drop). On air I said it was a 'Cover Drive' Australian red (in light of the cricket starting that day) but I picked up the wrong bottle. Never mind.
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Kicking off SuperBlues 2024
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Judith Collins was my first guest at the Hutt Valley SuperBlues this year. This is a club of National Party-supporting seniors who get together every couple of months for a cup of tea and a sandwich and a scone - and to hear from a guest speaker. Let me know if you'd like to come along!
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Nga Hau e Wha U18 Girls Maori Rugby League Team
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Winning all 3 games! Nga Hau e Wha o Wainuiomata Marae U18 Girls Team have just returned from an amazing 10 day Queensland Tour.
Game 1: 30 to 4 vs. Marsden State High School
Game 2: 48 to 0 vs. Mabel Park State High School (Aussie Champions 2023)
Game 3: 64 to 0 vs. Caboolture Snakes
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Three generations of HIBS 1st XI players. Rachin Ravindra and I pictured here with Connor Gatward at the PM’s reception for the Aussie and NZ Cricket teams last Monday night. Great to have all the 1st XI captains there from around Wellington.
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Jenna and I slipped across the ditch for 36 hours a couple of weekends ago to see Taylor Swift in Sydney. It was an incredible experience!
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