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Dear John --
Congratulations are due to the Nauhria family who hosted a grand
opening of their precast concrete factory, Nauhria Precast, in
Papakura at the end of September. The factory and the separate office
complex showcase the incredible range of beautiful finishes that can
be achieved when building in concrete and using innovative
technologies and processes.
The Nauhrias invited the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and me
and others to join with them to open and celebrate the completion of
this project which will provide 300 jobs in Papakura. It has great
potential to speed up the efficient production of housing and the
building of other facilities public and private across Auckland.
Energetic businessmen and founders, father and son Roshan Nauhria
and Tony Nauhria are planning more production units like this in
Matamata and Cromwell which is wonderful news for our country.
Building a better future
Building infrastructure of all sorts from roads to alternative
power generation installations and commercial developments are being
benefitted by the legislation that the Coalition Government is putting
in place to reduce compliance costs and delays.
Specifically, for homeowners are the new rules that will make it
easier to make small changes to building plans like substituting one
building material for another or changing a room layout.
The Government has made changes to regulations under the Building
Act to clarify the definition of a ‘minor variation’ and introduce
definitions for ‘minor customisation’ . This will provide greater
flexibility for architects, tradies and homeowners to make small
changes without the need for a lengthy process to get a plan
amendment.
Building
(Minor Variations) Amendment Regulations 2024
Kāinga Ora turning around mismanagement of unruly
tenants
As a result of Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Minister
Tama Potaka ending the Sustaining Tenancies Framework in March this
year, Kāinga Ora staff have been empowered to terminate 14 tenancies
in the last three months. The previous policy had no consequences for
disruptive behaviour including abuse or damage or persistent rent
arrears.
These 14 applications made by Kainga Ora were heard by the Tenancy
Tribunal who have a further 25 applications to end tenancies for the
same reasons, before them now.
Kainga Ora have also issued 80 formal warning notices to tenants
for disruptive behaviour in the last three months, compared to 13 for
the same period last year.
Although the numbers have dropped, there are still 24,000 whānau
on the social housing waitlist and more than 2,000 living in emergency
hotels, so people who abuse the privilege of living in social housing
are no longer tolerated.
Kainga Ora has a new management board that is being asked to focus
on Kainga Ora’s financial stability, aiming to reduce losses, improve
long term management, and deliver better value for taxpayers.
As it has 70,000 homes, 185,000 tenants and is a $45 billion
agency, it is essential that the organisation functions well and
manages its funds intelligently and responsibly.
The sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui
The grounding and sinking of the Manawanui is a very unfortunate
and costly accident which happened during a fierce storm near a
shallow reef off Upolu, Samoa last weekend.
My first reaction, after receiving word that no-one was missing or
severely harmed, was to confirm that a Court of Inquiry has been
established to determine what went wrong.
In the meantime, New Zealand’s resources were applied to minimise
the environmental problem that oil and fuel leaking from the stricken
ship might cause to the area affected by the accident.
I am very grateful that the Manawanui’s commanding officer Yvonne
Gray made the right decision to abandon the ship and that the
successful evacuation of 75 personnel by lifeboat resulted in only two
people with injuries requiring hospital treatment as well as some cuts
and abrasions needing first aid, for others.
It would have been a terrifying experience, but luckily the
training that Naval personnel have, kicked in and their rescue was
successful. We are grateful to the people of Upolu Samoa for their
valuable aid and assistance during the rescue too.
The loss of the Manawanui is severe for the New Zealand Navy
because this 21-year -old ship was reasonably new to New Zealand and
its technology allowed it to perform many important functions
including marine surveys and salvage operations.
It was unfortunate that this accident came just after a very
successful South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting at the Devonport
Naval Base concluded with a renewed commitment to regional security of
all types.
The meeting of Defence Ministers and military personnel from
Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and
Tonga discussed topics including protecting our maritime areas,
improving the effectiveness of our Defence Forces and adapting to the
impacts of climate change.
The meetings also included the role of emerging technology, in
responding to challenges that include humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief, combating maritime security threats including illegal
fishing and transnational crime and having a collective approach to
improving the effectiveness of the region’s Defence Forces.
It was great to finish the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting
knowing there was a renewed commitment to collective action and
leadership and a sense of having shared values to meet shared
challenges.
This is of importance to all of us in the South Pacific as we live,
work and support each other’s trade and tourism to forge a secure and
prosperous future.
Best wishes,
Judith |
