Dear John --

It was very sad to learn last week, that Hon Nikki Kaye had passed away at the very young age of 44.

She was an excellent colleague and friend to me and she had great relationships with many people in Parliament, during her tenure there from 2008 to 2020.

Nikki was able to break the Labour party’s 90 year hold on Auckland Central when she became its Member of Parliament at the age of 28. In Papakura, she will be remembered for being the Minister of Education that ensured the wonderful Rosehill School was built, with many special features, so that it could become the life-changing school that it is for the children who now attend. A number of other schools were rebuilt in New Zealand, during the years that she was the Minister of Education.

She was a tireless worker and achieved much, as she was the Minister for Youth, ACC, Civil Defence, Food Safety and Associate Immigration Minister as well. She even became Deputy Leader of the Party in 2020.

She has sadly passed from us at too young an age, but she will be remembered with gratitude by the many people who met her and admired her for what she achieved, personally, for her electorate of Auckland Central and for New Zealand as a whole. A memorial for Nikki will be held on 31 January in Auckland.

ASEAN meeting for Ministers of Defence

As Defence Minister I attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos, recently.

Present at the Meeting-Plus were representatives from all the ASEAN countries:- Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Timor-Leste is in the process of accession as the 11th member of ASEAN.

As it was called Meeting-Plus, the ASEAN Dialogue Partners who are Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States, also attended.

Meeting many of my counterparts gave me an opportunity to engage with them as our international partners. Given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation and our long-standing commitment to others at this meeting, it was of key importance to discuss our defence engagement in the Indo-Pacific, our combined support for regional stability and for security in general.

As many of you will know I am concerned about China’s recent behaviour in the South China Sea and with the implications of China firing a ballistic missile into the South Pacific. We want to protect sea lanes and be prepared for any strategic competition being driven among Indo-Pacific nations by China and so meetings like Meeting-Plus become very important for creating cohesion and support for each other’s countries.

While I found Laos to be a very interesting country to visit, I was shocked to learn of the tragic deaths of several young female tourists who suffered poisoning, while I was there. I extend my sympathy and condolences to their families and friends.

Education measures are proving positive

The Coalition Government’s measures to ensure better school attendance are showing positive results. The figures for Term 3 of 2024 show that 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023. This follows the trend that has occurred each term since the emphasis on getting children back into the classroom was prioritised by Minister of Education Erica Stanford. Her target for 2030 is to have 80 per cent of children attending school 90 percent of the time.

Proposals for changes to name supression orders

The Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith is proposing changes to Name Suppression Orders.

The first change will ensure the courts cannot issue a permanent name suppression order for an adult convicted of a sexual offence, unless the victim agrees to it. Where a victim cannot make this decision due to availability or possible re-traumatisation, the court will decide.

The second change ensures victims of all sexual crimes, including intimate visual recording offences, are automatically given name suppression. This closes the current legislative gap and prioritises the need to protect and empower victims.

New Zealand’s name suppression laws need to ensure openness of court proceedings, and that people convicted of serious sexual crimes are identified and held to account.

Law and Order updates

Government figures at the end of November demonstrate the Coalition’s commitment to restoring law and order.

In a nutshell, foot patrols have increased by 30 per cent, ram raids are down over 60 per cent, serious assaults have dropped 3 per cent and aggravated robberies are down 11 per cent. Gang membership growth has reduced from a 10 per cent annual increase down to a 1 per cent annual increase.

I also take this opportunity to welcome our new Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and wish him well in this demanding role. His experience and knowledge will greatly benefit the work of our hardworking New Zealand Police personnel.

Papakura Rotary Christmas Parade

Just a reminder that the Papakura Rotary Christmas Parade is on Sunday 8th December from 11am, parade at 1pm at Bruce Pulman Park. All welcome.

Wishing you all very well,

Judith

Hon Judith Collins KC MP for Papakura