In this month's update: * Tornado in Levin * Our new local Youth MP * The
economy and US tariffs * Anzac Day 2025 * Five pieces of good news * Upcomi

Hi John, here’s your April update.

See below for details about a morning tea with Erica Stanford on April 30th.
Also this month:

* Tornado in Levin

* Our new local Youth MP

* The economy and US tariffs

* Anzac Day 2025

* Five pieces of good news

* Upcoming events



It’s been another busy month. I’ve been proud to attend more impressive local
events like the Ōtaki Kite Festival, Central Districts Field Days, the SS Ōtaki
Commemoration at Ōtaki College, the Our Lady of Kāpiti school gala and the
Māoriland Film Festival where, along with Director Tainui Stephens, I attended
the World Premiere of Shrek in Te Reo Māori.

Between meetings with local community members whom I help one-on-one, I’ve
learnt how to shear a sheep (can’t promise perfection but here’s the evidence
[link removed])/QoTi/CYu-AQ/AQ/b5b98ade-d5ab-4a9b-b4ca-02b7f8d5ab1a/15/9LR3gkPh8k with
RuralWorx, witnessed the first official journey of Turk’s new chicken truck in
Foxton, spoken about business opportunities at the Kāpiti Chamber Event and
hosted leadership workshops with local secondary students.


TORNADO IN LEVIN

I want to acknowledge up front all of those impacted by the tornado in Levin
this week. I was in Parliament in Wellington, but I jumped straight in the car
and rushed up to Levin to get out on the ground, to understand the scale of
damage, to check in on those who were impacted, and to see how I could help. I
was in regular contact with the Minister of Emergency Mangagement, and with the
Mayor and council staff. I was really impressed by how well everyone responded
and was proud to help out where I could. You can see my video from around the
region her [link removed]
[link removed]




OUR NEW LOCAL YOUTH MP

Congratulations to our new Youth MP; Aroa Al Masri.

Each MP needs to choose one local person, aged 16-18, to act as a Youth MP. The
Youth MP has a role helping me to give young people a voice in our community,
and then attending the Youth Parliament in July this year. This takes places
just once every three years.



Aroa is also head girl at Kāpiti College, she's a Korean Reality TV star, a UN
youth ambassador and chairperson of the Kāpiti Youth Council. Aroa will
represent our region brilliantly. You can listen to an interview with her here.
[link removed]


THE ECONOMY AND US TARIFFS

Data released in March for the December 2024 quarter shows that New Zealand’s
GDP grew by 0.7%. This shows that New Zealand’s economy is turning the corner. I
know there is some uncertainty in the world with USA’s tariffs, but our economy
is protected better than many. There is still a lot to play out here, but our
exports increased in the December quarter, and our progress with Free Trade
Agreement with India, as well as completing FTAs with the UAE and Gulf States,
shows we are diversifying and leveraging the opportunities around us. There’s
more work to do, but with economic forecasts projecting further growth ahead,
things are much better than in 2023.




ANZAC DAY 2025

As we approach Anzac Day this year there are a couple of significant things I'm
proud to share that we're doing to support our Defence Force.

* We're taking Defence spending up to 2% of GDP for the first time since 1992.
This includes new planes, navy helicopters, army communications and more, but
most importantly includes support for our people who put their uniform on
each day. $12bn of extra funding over the next four years is really
significant in the context of an annual budget of $4.9bn.

* We're changing the law around Anzac Day so that it recognises and remembers
all people who serve New Zealand in the Defence Force, not just those who
served in war-time up until Vietnam.

This year I'll be at these services:

* Dawn parade in Foxton

* 8am parade in Manakau

* Civic parade in Paraparaumu

* Community service in Pukerua Bay. This is the 15th anniversary of the tragic
helicopter crash that killed three friends of mine near Pukerua Bay on Anzac
Day 2010.




FIVE PIECES OF GOOD NEWS

Here are five top highlights from Wellington (and India) this month:

1. RMA Complete replacement: New planning laws will end the culture of
‘no’. The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource
Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the
environment. Read more.
[link removed]

2. We back our Police: You’ve probably seen that the Greens want to abolish
prisons and defund the Police, and Labour and Greens have voted together to
oppose every piece of law and order legislation we’ve put through. Don’t
worry, real consequences for crime are being restored. Kiwis can now feel
safer knowing serious criminals will spend longer in prison with the
Government’s sentencing reforms passing final reading in Parliament. Read
more. [link removed]

3. Cost of living support coming for 1.5 million New Zealanders: More than
900,000 superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New
Zealanders who received a significant financial boost at the start of
April. Read more.
[link removed]

4. Improving our local health care: Here are four pieces of great news.

* Seeing a GP faster. The Government is delivering on its commitment to fix
New Zealand’s broken healthcare system by ensuring Kiwis get better access
to healthcare. Read more.
[link removed]

* More locally trained doctors in primary care. We’ve announced further
initiatives as part of a package to tackle shortages in general practice
and improve access to primary care and health outcomes. Read more.
[link removed]

* A greater role for nurses in primary care. Boosting our nursing workforce
will deliver immediate benefits to people seeking care Read more.
[link removed]

* Bowel screening changes to save hundreds of lives. Our Government has
agreed to progressively lower the age of eligibility for bowel cancer
screening tests to align with Australia. Read more.
[link removed]

5. NZ & India launch Comprehensive FTA negotiations: New Zealand and India have
formally launched negotiations on a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.
Alongside this our Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new
Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC), reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to
enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. And both the
NZ and Indian Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for
further cooperation between the two countries across a range of
areas.  Including the announcement of a new Defence Cooperation
Arrangement. Read more here.
[link removed]


UPCOMING EVENTS

It's a busy year so let's just get a few markers in the diary nice and early.



* April

* 30 - Members' Morning Tea with Hon. Erica Stanford. This is a free event
for National members, or you can make a donation at the door to join. We'll
take a koha for those that want to contribute to the cost of venue hire and
morning tea.

Wednesday April 30th, 10.30 for morning tea, speech at 11am. Whitby Bowling
Club.

* May

* 1 - Levin movie night. Contact Oliver for details [email protected].

* 9-11 - LNI regional conference (Rotorua)

* 12 - Super Blues (over 60s) morning tea, Paraparaumu, with Joseph Mooney,
MP for Southland. 10am. I'll send full details closer to the time.

* June

* 6 - Ōtaki Mid-winter dinner

* 8 - Lower North Island (LNI) regional meeting (Wellington)

* Special dinner club fundraiser

* July

* 14 - Super Blues (over 60s) event in Levin, with Suze Redmayne, MP for
Rangitikei (date to be confirmed)

* 26 - Annual Day at the races, Ōtaki Maori Racing Club

* August

* 1-3 - National conference, Christchurch

* 15 - Annual soup and buns lunch, Waikanae

* Special under 60s drinks fundraiser

* September

* 20 - Levin dessert evening

* October

* 6 - Quiz night, Kāpiti 

* 10 - Possible event with Nicola Willis

* Special dinner club fundraiser

* November

* 7 - Super blues morning tea

* 23 - LNI Christmas lunch, Palmerston North

* 29 - Levin Christmas lunch

* Special under 60s drinks fundraiser

* December

* 6 - Kāpiti Food Fair - join us at our stall

That's it for this month.

Best wishes,




[link removed]

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