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Dear John In this issue:
Minister's NewsIt’s certainly been a busy month in my Ministerial portfolios, with a number of actions having synergy with the Taupō electorate, helping drive economic growth across our region. Tourism Turbocharge
During an incredibly successful and fun visit to Weta Unleashed in Auckland with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, I was excited to announce a $13.5 million investment for Tourism New Zealand to attract more international visitors – particularly from China, Australia, the United States, India, Germany and South Korea. This campaign is estimated to result in more than 23,000 additional international visitors who will spend an extra $100 million across the country. Boosting tourism means more people staying in our hotels, eating in our cafés, spending in our shops and visiting our attractions, which creates jobs and drives economic growth. We have so many amazing tourism hotspots across our fantastic electorate and I’m excited to encourage more visitors to see what the region offers – whether that’s jet boating at Huka Falls, visiting the mud pools at Craters of the Moon, outlet shopping in Tīrau or kayaking on Lake Karapiro/getting up close and personal with nature at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari ecological island. Tourism BoostEarlier in April, I announced a $2.45 million boost to regional tourism organisations to help regions host events for both international and domestic tourists. Partner organisations for this initiative include Hamilton and Waikato Tourism, Destination Great Lake Taupō and Visit Ruapehu. Tourism and hospitality are crucial to growing our economy and this regional boost will be key for our regional tourism areas including the Taupō electorate.
Cruise ships contribute to New Zealand's tourism and economic growth. Disability Working GroupsDisability groups continue to advocate strongly for their sector. It was an honour to speak at the recent annual Parliamentary Breakfast to promote autism awareness and acceptance, amplify autistic voices, and ensure autism is visible to all MPs and policy makers. It’s estimated around 82,000 New Zealanders meet the diagnostic criteria for autism. I thank Autism New Zealand for the opportunity. It was also great to meet up with some ‘local’ people at the event, including patron Eric Murray (below right) who is a passionate supporter of this important cause.
Refreshed NZ Disability StrategyThere has been strong interest nationwide in refreshing the New Zealand Disability Strategy and I was pleased to recognise 26 members and five chairs of the new draft strategy working groups – Education, Employment, Health, Housing and Justice. The purpose of the strategy is to improve the lives of disabled people. Like everyone else, they want to participate in their communities, to thrive and make decisions about their own lives. This refresh represents huge opportunities to make positive differences in many disabled people's lives. There will be opportunities to review the draft later this year. New Zealand Sign Language ConsultationThe draft New Zealand Sign Language strategy is open for consultation until 2 June. The strategy will drive the work of the NZSL Board for the next five years as it strives to ensure members of the Deaf community have the assistance they need. See my press release delivered in NZSL here. Veterans' Service AwardsI was honoured to commemorate Anzac Day in Tokoroa this year.
Anzac Day is a particularly important anniversary for New Zealanders, where we reflect on the costs of service and sacrifice and honour those who have served, some of whom gave their lives for our country. This month, Government announced it will introduce legislation to formally recognise more former soldiers, sailors and aviators as veterans. We will also establish a national day dedicated to honouring New Zealand’s veterans, which will be marked annually with Veterans’ Service Awards. This marks meaningful progress toward a future where those who have served feel recognised and valued by the nation they served to protect. Lest we forget. Child-Friendly Child and Youth Strategy
Today I visited Cambridge Middle School to launch the child-friendly version of the Child and Youth Strategy – our Government’s plan to improve the lives of young Kiwis and create social and economic prosperity for New Zealand’s current and future generations. The Strategy priorities are:
New Zealand is stronger when its people are skilled and educated, healthy and resilient, and our families and communities are thriving. Parly FernsThe netball season has begun with the Parly Ferns first game against Charlie's Angels in Hamilton. To even the numbers, I swapped sides and played for Charlie's Angels. One of the charities the match supported was Sands New Zealand, a network of non-profit groups which support families who have lost babies.
In the HouseRural Assistance PaymentsFarmers whose incomes have been severely affected by drought can apply for Rural Assistance Payments (until 28 October 2025) to help with essential living costs. Apply through your local Rural Support Trust. Safer CommunitiesWe are starting to see the results of providing extra tools to the police and the courts to go after gangs, bringing back a revised three strikes sentencing regime, restoring real consequences for crime by limiting sentence discounts, and scrapping Section 27 reports. The latest New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey shows that for the year to February, there were 157,000 victims of violent crime. This is 28,000 fewer victims than the baseline set in October 2023. While it is 157,000 victims too many, it is much better than forecast! Treaty Principles BillWhen forming our coalition Government, National agreed to support ACT's Treaty Principles Bill as far as its first reading and select committee, but not beyond. We stuck to that agreement. The Bill was rejected at its second reading on 10 April. Our focus is on growing the economy so there are more jobs, higher wages, and more money in people’s back pockets. Emergency Management ConsultationFollowing some major emergencies in recent years, Government is seeking public feedback on strengthening New Zealand’s emergency management legislation so it meets the growing risk of severe weather events and other emergencies A new Emergency Management Bill to replace the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 will be put before the House this term. Everyone has a role to play in emergency management as individuals or as part of an organisation. We all have different strengths, knowledge, resources and strategies, so we'd appreciate it if you could share your ideas here. Budget 2025Supporting economic growth will be Government's main goal for Budget 2025 (delivered 22 May). Alongside keeping a tight rein on spending, we are relentlessly focussed on growing New Zealand's wealth so we can have access to better public services like healthcare and education. Our specific actions fall under five key themes:
When deciding on spending, we always ask ourselves two questions:
At the Half Year Update, Treasury forecast the “allowance” in Budget 2025 would be $2.4 billion, but Government has reduced the size of our Budget 2025 operating allowance to $1.3 billion to avoid further debt and the cost of servicing it while still enabling us to achieve a forecast surplus in 2029. Budget 2025 will still deliver increased investment in priority areas like health, education, law and order, defence, business growth and targeted cost-of-living relief, but given global volatility we are sticking to responsible policies that provide stability, support investment and make New Zealand an attractive place for the world to trade and do business with. Financial Literacy in School CurriculumFinancial Literacy, so essential to our everyday lives, will be embedded in the Year 1–10 Social Sciences curriculum and guidance and resources will be provided to support schools to flexibly deliver ongoing financial education for Year 11–13 students. Feedback on the draft curriculum will be available in Term 4, and the final version will be available for use in 2026. Electorate NewsTaupō Hospital Training Rural DoctorsFollowing success on the West Coast, Taupō Hospital has been accredited to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training to help increase the number of rural generalist doctors with the broad skills needed to support its rural communities. The programme has been successfully running in Te Tai o Poutini West Coast, attracting health professionals wanting to upskill. This new accreditation complements the existing pathway for New Zealand doctors through the New Zealand Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme. ITM Taupō Super 440 Motor RacingIt was an honour to present New Zealander Matt Payne the winning trophy at the Supercars on 13 April. The trophies were designed and carved by local whakairo artist Delani Brown.
It was great to see so many racing enthusiasts enjoying the electric atmosphere and superb weather – such a contrast with the wet 2024 event! This event draws visitors from across the country and the world to Taupō. Kinleith PM6 Paper Machine Closure: Project PhoenixI continue to work with the Project Phoenix team (led by South Waikato District Council and the Ministry of Social Development) to discuss supporting Oji Fibre Solutions employees who will lose their employment when paper production ceases at Kinleith Mill.
A community event was held on 23 April at the South Waikato Sport and Events Centre in Tokoroa so that affected workers and their whanau could meet those in the community who can provide services and support. Youth MPI'm pleased to announce this term's Taupō electorate Youth MP Ryder Miller (Tokoroa). I'm looking forward to working with him over the coming months.
His first foray into the role was at the Tokoroa Anzac Service (see pictured below with South Waikato District Council Mayor Gary Petley and me). He will engage with other young people in the electorate to gather their ideas and bring those views to Youth Parliament on 1–2 July in the Parliamentary precinct in Wellington, experiencing first-hand what it’s like to be at the highest decision-making table in the country. Youth Advisory BoardSenior high school students from across the electorate are invited to attend my second Youth Advisory Board in Tokoroa on 13 June. Different material will be covered in this session than was covered at the beginning of April. The YAB is an opportunity for students to learn about New Zealand’s parliamentary system and democracy. It is also a chance for me to gauge students’ views on current affairs so I can accurately represent them in Parliament. Schools have been sent information and will be advising students of details. If you need further information, please get in touch with one of my offices (details below). Tokoroa ANZAC ServiceIt's always sobering to attend an Anzac service and reflect on the lives lost, and still being lost, during war.
Speed Limit ReturnsAfter considering public submissions, the Minister of Transport has decided the Napier-Taupō Road speed limit will return to 100km/h from 1 July and Taupō to Turangi will also return to 100km/h. Cambridge Autumn FestivalThe Cambridge Autumn Festival is such a great opportunity to see the depth and breadth of talent in our artistic community. Artists of all stripes play such an important role in enriching our lives and making us see things in new ways. Congratulations to Jan Mackenzie on winning the Short Story competition with her tale "A Little Less of Lonely". Jan won the competition last year too! Growing Native Forests AwardsNominations for the inaugural Growing Native Forests Champions Awards open 15 April and close 9 May 2025. The winning farmers, landowners, iwi, and community groups who are restoring and planting native forests and helping bolster New Zealand’s biodiversity and land resilience will be announced at Fieldays in June. Details of categories and nominations are here. RoadworksSH1 Tīrau to WaiouruI think you'll agree, State Highway 1 is looking (and feeling) fantastic after 119 lane kilometres of road between Tīrau and Waiouru have been rehabilitated or resealed over the summer months! Thank you for your patience during this time! The Tīrau to Waiouru project is part of the Government’s $2.07 billion Pothole Prevention fund. Around 5,670 pothole repairs were needed in the last couple of years! Continuing to patch potholes does not make economic sense. We're taking a stitch-in-time approach. In some areas, the road has been completely rebuilt. At the project’s peak, 32 contracting firms were working at once and 145 truckloads of roading metal were being delivered every day across the closed sections of state highway. Four years of roadworks are being condensed into two road maintenance seasons. In September, final surfacing will be completed under stop/go controls and/or at night, and more maintenance and road rebuilding will be done between Taupō and Tūrangi, and in the Tīrau and Tokoroa townships. The work between Taupō to Tūrangi will not involve a full 24/7 road closure. Detour routes used while work was being done on SH1 have deteriorated faster than normal due to the extra traffic. NZTA Waka Kotahi and the South Waikato District Council have been working on repairs. Taupō Commercial Vehicle Safety CentreFive sites leading to the Taupō Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre are having in-road weighing technology installed and these will be coned off for 30 days from late April/early May to cure the asphalt before the technology is installed. NZTA UpdatesWork has begun on a right-turn bay (southbound) from SH5 onto Waimakariri Road (between Whites Road and Harwoods Road) so take care when travelling this stretch, particularly at night. Visit the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Journey Planner webpage to see when and where detours are in place and how much extra time you need to add to your journey. You can subscribe to NZTA Waka Kotahi updates here. Attending EventsIf you are organising an event that you would like me to attend, please contact my office well in advance (details below). My calendar fills up quickly! Upcoming Engagement OpportunitiesFacebook LiveJoin me online to discuss the issues that currently concern you on the second Tuesday of each month. To join my next live chat, head to Louise Upston MP | Facebook on Tuesday 13 May 2025 at 8 p.m. and type your questions or comments. You can watch the last Facebook Live here. ClinicsNote: Dates are subject to change. Cambridge ClinicFriday 2 May, 2:00–3:30p.m. Please call 07 827 5572 or email [email protected] for an appointment. South Waikato Clinic (Tokoroa)Friday, 9 May, 2:00–3:30p.m. Please call 07 8865554 or email [email protected] for an appointment. Taupō ClinicFriday 16 May, 2:00–3:30p.m. Please call 07 3765563 or email [email protected] for an appointment. Electorate AssistanceCambridge Office: Phone 07 8275572 or email [email protected] South Waikato: Phone 07 8865554 or email [email protected] Taupō Office: Phone 07 3765563 or email [email protected] Please share the news!Please forward this email to friends and family who might like to stay in touch and connected with the community. If you received this from a friend or family member and you would like to subscribe to future newsletters, please click here and fill out the ‘Get Updates’ form at the bottom of my webpage. We believe that email is one of the best ways to stay in touch with our community, but you can also follow us on Facebook or Instagram. Kind regards Louise Upston Funded by Parliamentary Service |
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