Dear John,
It's been a busy last couple of days. First, a bit of fun. This morning I turned my very dishevelled hair, which hadn't been cut for over two months, into a "Bishmullet"! (photo below). The backstory is that someone on Facebook commented on a photo of my hair and asked "how many likes for a mullet?". I jokingly said 1000... and you can guess what happened next. I'm a politician who likes to keep his promises (rare I know), so this morning Amanda from Wildflower fashioned my hair into a very funky mullet. It's all for a good cause though - for Good Bitches Baking, a network of awesome people who bake delicious treats for those having a tough time - families with children in hospital; residents in hospice and their loved ones; women and children fleeing domestic violence, and more. For every $1000 raised, I'll keep it for another day. You can donate online here. At time of writing we're up to $2687. TVNZ covered it online here, as did Newshub, and the Herald.
Fair to say my appearance in Parliament this afternoon for a brief speech produced some interesting reactions.... What do you think?
The more serious news of the last couple of days is of course the government's Budget, always a big moment on the Parliamentary calendar. This has been described as the most important in a generation, and that's probably right, given COVID-19 and the damage it has wrought on the global and national economy. The numbers are eye truly eye-watering and alarming. Net core Crown debt is forecast to reach $200 billion by 2024, which is 54% of GDP. That is an increase of $140 billion, or roughly $80,000 per household in New Zealand. The Budget deficit will be $28 billion this year, followed by $30b next year and $27b the year after. There are cumulative deficits of $100b over the next four years. Unemployment is expected to rise to 9.8% this year, which means 150,000 job losses this year. GDP is expected to fall by 4.6% for the year to June 2020.
However you look at it, it's a truly alarming picture. From my point of view, it speaks to the importance of having a clear and detailed plan to get the economy moving again. Debt is obviously inevitable and necessary in the short-term, to cushion the economy from the blow of COVID-19. But we need a plan to get back into surplus, contain debt as much as possible and get unemployment down. All spending needs to be rigorously assessed as to whether it will "move the dial" or not, and sadly, there is plenty of spending in the Budget that simply won't. And from our point of view, there's no real plan either. Expect to hear much more from us on this in the coming weeks.
In the last week or so I've also been focusing on two big transport issues. The first is light rail in Auckland, which is now officially "on hold". You may remember this as the PM's first big promise as leader - it was meant to be complete by 2021. Well as of May 2020, there is no route, no costings, no plan, no consents, no business case, and it's not clear when it will even begin, if at all. All pretty hopeless, really, and a broken promise.
The second is Transmission Gully. This is a critical project for Wellington and the region, but we heard last week that the timeline for completion has again slipped, and it could be another two years! I am hearing very concerning stories from those associated with the project, and we'll be digging into this more in the coming weeks.
Business with Bish: I've started a new regular series to profile great local Hutt businesses that deserve your support as we head out of lockdown and into Level 2. It's important we "shop local" and support great Hutt companies. Watch out for more! So far I've profiled Dirty Burger in Petone, ESSC Eats in Eastbourne, and Fix Federation.
Finally this week, you may have seen coverage of the new laws the government passed this week as we enter Level 2. Quite rightly the process and the substance of the law raised real concern, and National opposed the legislation. I've done a reasonably long post explaining why, if you're interested.
Chris
P.S My offices will reopen on Monday! Please contact me at any time of course if you need a hand with anything.
P.P.S You may enjoy this video of Ladyhawke doing the 25 push-up challenge!
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I've started a new regular series to profile great local Hutt businesses that deserve your support as we head out of lockdown and into Level 2. It's important we "shop local" and support great Hutt companies. Watch out for more! So far I've profiled Dirty Burger in Petone, ESSC Eats in Eastbourne, and Fix Federation.
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Newshub did a video on what life is like for a MP in lockdown. Check out the video here. Features Ladyhawke, my work-out routine, berry and beetroot smoothies and more!
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Limits on Religious Services
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An important letter from Simon Bridges to the Prime Minister. "I write to you on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who practice many different faiths and religions, who continue to be unable to gather in any meaningful way for worship this weekend because the Covid-19 restrictions your Government has chosen to keep in place limit the number of people who can attend religious services to 10...New Zealanders find it inconsistent that you allow large numbers of people at bars, restaurants or sporting events but continue to deny more than 10 people gathering for religious services."
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Thanks Truckies! Took the opportunity in Parliament to say thanks to our hard working truck drivers working through the day and night during lockdown to make sure we had food and essential supplies.
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Mum will have a flat white please!
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Sobering figures, and this is pre-lock down. The May figures will be worse.
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Wainuiomata Shopping Centre development
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Construction of the Wainuiomata Mall redevelopment starts Monday! The construction contract has been signed off with Watts and Hughes. This is fantastic news. For the time I've been a MP the state of the Wainuiomata Mall has been a big issue. Finally we will have a town centre that we can be proud of.
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Bit of a #FlashbackFriday - the Western Hutt Road at Melling, looking north towards Upper Hutt. Soon, we will have a brand new interchange here and bridge - and how good would it be if the train line still kept going north too? Thanks to the Lower Hutt Historical Society for the photo.
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