Dear John,
It has been an absolutely frenetic last couple of weeks at Parliament and around the Hutt - I am looking forward to a good couple of days off at Easter this weekend! It's hard to believe we're almost in April - the year has gone by so fast.
It's school gala season at the moment - last weekend in the space of 15 hours I was at Epuni, Kelson and Korokoro schools! Lovely to see the school communities getting in behind the schools and fundraising for a good cause. Probably the highlight of the last couple of weeks though was the WeetBix KiwiKids Tryathlon at the Hutt Rec on a glorious Hutt morning. I just love coming along to this event and seeing thousands of Hutt kids trying their best - handing out the medals is one of my favourite things to do each year.
A quick update on a couple of local issues. First, I'm pleased to report the Fight for the Flyer campaign was a big success - over 2000 people submitted to the Regional Council as part of their Transport plan consultation and told them to make sure the new Flyer service runs to the Hutt, not just to Wellington railway station! Watch this space - Campbell Barry and I will stay on the case.
I've also collated the results of my annual summer survey - thanks to those who filled it out! You can see the first of the results below. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the big three issues for the Hutt were transport, housing, and health, in that order. More to come from me on all of these issues.
Still on the Hutt, more media on the dodgy Labour funding arrangement that sees the local Hutt South Labour Party profit from the taxpayer. Both Trevor Mallard and the sitting Labour MP are implicated in this tawdry arrangement that sees the party skimming profit off the top of Parliamentay funding for an electorate office. Despite saying to TVNZ she was unaware of the arrangement until 2020, Ginny now says she knew about it in 2017.
Turning to Parliament, I've been super-busy. You may remember that last year we declared we had lost confidence in Trevor Mallard as Speaker of the House, and we are not letting the matter drop. Earlier this year I applied to the High Court for court documents relating to the defamation case by the Parliamentary staffer who Mallard falsely accused of rape, and in the House I talked about what the documents show. The speech has been widely viewed so if you missed it, check it out here. What the documents show is that Mallard was told he was wrong almost immediately (and he's admitted it was within 24 hours), but he then threatened the plaintiff, telling him he would prove truth in court (ie, he was a rapist), and that the plaintiff's reputation would be at the centre of the trial So Mallard planned to do all this despite knowing he was wrong! It really is quite extraordinary, but the PM is standing by him even though she has finally admitted his behaviour was "inexcusable". We're not going to let this drop. My message to the PM: the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.
COVID-19 continues to occupy a huge amount of my time. National has been pushing hard for the opening of the Trans-Tasman (and also Cook Islands) bubbles, and we've been frustrated at the length of time it's taking - remember both were meant to be open by the end of this month. There's a real economic cost to not opening the bubble - but the bigger cost is the families who have been split apart, and the people who've missed births, deaths, marriages, and other major life events. We think the time has come to open both bubbles up.
COVID-19 vaccines are now being rolled out around the world, but at a very slow pace in New Zealand - just 41000 delivered so far. I've got major concerns over the readiness of the IT infrastructure to support the roll-out - 3 of the 4 systems are still "under development" and over the weekend there was a major security breach of the Canterbury DHB booking system that they were using for the group 2 workers in the roll-out. We should also be setting a target for the number of people to be vaccinated - most OECD countries are, and they're also setting a date by which it should be complete. We're not doing either.
Finally from Parliament - working on members' bills to make small but important changes to the law is one of my favourite things to do - and I had another one passed last week! It makes a small change to improve access to justice by making it easier for lawyers to do work outside their existing employment. It's off to the Justice Committee for further consideration.
Have a great Easter break.
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I wasn't surprised by these results - are you?
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WeetBix KiwiKids Tryathlon
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One of my favourite days of the year! Handing out medals this morning at the Weetbix Kids TRYathlon at the Hutt Rec. Quick video here.
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Parliamentary v Media Cricket
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Victory for Parliament over the Media on Sunday at Petone Rec. Our first ever! Batting first we scored a respectable 161/4 from 25 overs with openers James Meager and Vincent Ringrose both retiring after scoring 50s. The Media team got off to a great start - being 108/2 after just 12 overs but some tight bowling and great fielding saw us bowl them out for 155 in the 23rd over - victory by just 6 runs! A great afternoon at Petone Rec. My contribution was a tinny 12 with the bat but did pick up 3 wickets with the ball, including the final wicket with just 6 to get.
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Collecting for Blind and Low Vision NZ
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Charlie's Sushi in Wainuiomata were giving away free sushi yesterday to say thanks to the Wainuiomata community. What a legend. Thanks Charlie!
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Cancer Society Fundraising
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Great work by these HIBS lads fundraising for the Cancer Society on Saturday at the Eastbourne Four Square. Delicious bacon butty!
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Had a great time at the Epuni Primary School Gala last Friday. Lovely to see year 13 leaders from their ‘sister school’ Chilton St James there running a bike raffle. Great stuff.
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Many congratulations to Samhitha Lakkineni from the Natraj School of Dance who recently completed her arangetram performance at the Little Theatre. It was a privilege to be a guest of honour at the performance.
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Beautiful evening on Friday at the Kelson School Gala. Helped out on the barbie for an hour. Awesome to see so many kids enjoying the activities on offer on a stunning night. Well done to the organising committee who did a superb job, as always. Ran like clockwork!
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It was good to help Dallas and the team host this initial meeting last week at Knox Church. YSU is a youth-led initiative, by youth and for youth, focused on youth mental health in the Wellington region. Very proud to support this important mahi.
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Wonderful time at the Hutt Multicultural Council Multifest last weekend in Epuni. Well done to the organisers who had to move the date recently due to Covid level 2, and who put together an outstanding programme of performances, food, and stalls. The Hutt should be proud of the way we celebrate our diversity.
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Many congrats to a great Hutt Valley leader, Biddy Harford from Te Omanga Hospice who won a "Welly" award for Community Service last week. Sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you Biddy.
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Sent in by a mate. Pretty much bang on!
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