Dear John,
Melbourne has just entered its fourth lockdown - a reminder that as well as Australia and New Zealand have done in the fight against COVID-19, we still need to remain constantly vigilant and ensure our response continues to be as good as it possibly can be. That's been my main focus for the last couple of weeks, as indeed it has been this year.
As many have noted, the best defence against further COVID outbreaks in NZ is our vaccination programme, but unfortunately, our roll-out is looking messy. We were meant to be at the "front of the queue", but we are ranked 115th in the world for speed and we are the second slowest in the OECD. Just this week it was revealed that the roll-out for group 4 (the ordinary population) has been delayed from "July" until "the end of July" (so, August), which the government surreptitiously announced by quietly updating a website and not telling anyone. Furthermore, it's now late May and the group 3 roll-out is meant to be underway but nobody seems to know what's happening with it - and Cantabrians have been told that group 3 members won't get it until late July, because there isn't enough vaccine allocated to Canterbury. Yesterday it was reported that 12 out of 20 DHBs don't even know how many of their staff have been vaccinated!
You may have seen that last week the Auditor-General issued a very concerning report, saying that he is "not yet confident that all the pieces will fall into place quickly enough for the programme to ramp up to the level required over the second half of 2021". Meanwhile, the national booking system, which was meant to be up and running by now, has been delayed again. It's all looking very messy. My worry is that we will squander the hard-won gains of last year through a slow and messy vaccine roll-out, which is critical for our future.
In other COVID-19 news, this week the government announced they will finally introduce saliva testing at our border - something we've been calling for for months, and which was recommended to government as an urgent priority by the Roche/Simpson report in September last year. Eight months on we finally have progress. I also revealed last week that 7 million in MIQ fees is overdue, including 4 million owed to the government from stays in MIQ last year! We need to do a much better job of collecting this debt. I've heard of stories of people waiting literally months to even be invoiced. It should be like checking in and out of a hotel - because after all, that's essentially what MIQ is.
Parliament has been in recess this week so it's been good to get out and about in the Hutt. I spent Wednesday morning at the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge in Wainuiomata, marshaling on the course and helping with parking. I've done this every year for a few years now, as a fundraiser for the Coast Rd Church in Wainuiomata. A fun albeit cold morning! I also called into the Koha Shed, which is in urgent need of winter bedding (duvets, blankets etc). If you've got some spare, please drop into my office and we'll arrange delivery.
A few of you have asked me about Melling - still no update sadly. I thought we might get an update in the 2021 government Budget last week, but sadly nothing was forthcoming. It just beggars belief that the project is yet again at risk. Don't forget to sign the petition to get the government to commit (again!) to this very important project.
Finally this week, some congratulations are in order. First to Maycroft Construction, recognised with a Gold and National Category Award in the Heritage and Restoration category of the 2021 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards for the work on the Old St Pauls restoration. Second, Armstrong Downes won a Silver Award in the Heritage and Restoration Category for their work on the Basin Reserve Museum Stand restoration work. Well done to these two great Hutt companies. Third, a huge congratulations to Rohan Kumar from my old school, Hutt International Boys' School, who last week was named as the co-winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence (the top academic award at Secondary School level for NZ).
Oh one final thing - I'm hosting a fundraising dinner on Monday 28 June with Judith Collins. Details below. Be great to have you along. Tickets here or email us.
Have a great weekend,
Chris
P.S Did you see the names of the Hutt's new recycling trucks? The winning names were Bin Diesel, Truck Norris, Recyclosaurus Rex, Bruce Springclean, Trash Gordon, Chitty Chitty Bin Bin, and Trucky McTruckface. Those that didn't make the cut included Lord of the Bins, Dustbin Bieber, Lightning McClean, Chris Binshop and Binny Andersen. Classic.
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In January 2020 the government announced a new $6.8 billion transport programme, called the NZ Upgrade, which funded Melling (and Otaki to Levin and other projects). Unfortunately they left just $47 million in the kitty for cost overruns - yes seriously, $47 million out of $6.8 billion. It got them through the election but now reality is hitting home and the costs of everything have gone up - and they're having to make some decisions about what to do.
I assumed in Budget 2021 they would put some more money into the NZ Upgrade programme so they could keep all of their commitments - things they put on billboards all around the Hutt and around the country.
Sadly there isn't any new money at all.
So, Melling is still at risk. Otaki to Levin is at risk. In fact, all the projects in the programme are at risk. The government is still doing a "base-lining exercise" to work out how much Melling and other projects will cost. If there isn't at least $258 million for Melling and if it doesn't stay on the current timeframe, it will be a massive broken promise.
SIGN MY PETITION HERE.
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Catch up with me at the Riverbank Markets
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I'll be at the Riverbank Markets this Saturday from 9 through until midday-ish. No appointment necessary - just swing by for a chat. I'll also have hard copies of the "Commit to Melling" petition to sign.
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Dinner with Judith Collins
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This is my major annual fundraiser and it would be great to have your support - tickets from here.
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Helping out in Wainuiomata
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I spent Wednesday morning helping out at the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge at Camp Wainui - over 1000 primary school students went through the course, including under, through and around the (fake) electric fence I looked after! Great fun as always - and a nice fundraiser for the Wainuiomata Pioneer Church Preservation Society, a very worthy cause.
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The Koha Shed in Wainuiomata is in urgent need of winter bedding. Blankets, duvets, inners, etc. If you have any spare, please drop them into the Koha Shed or contact my Wainuiomata office to arrange a drop off. Phone 564 8707.
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Had a good catch up with local youth mental health campaigner Dallas Serj from the Youth Services Union last week with my colleague Matt Doocey, who is our Mental Health spokesperson. Dallas is doing a great job pushing for better support for our young people. Currently they are running a petition (link in comments) calling for:
- Funding more BluePrint MH101 courses in communities and schools
- Putting more pressure on schools to include more Mental Health Internals or teachings in NCEA Level 1-2 courses.
-Running more courses developed by professionals for Year 9-10 students to learn the basics behind Mental Health.
I will continue to assist Dallas and the mahi being done by the YSU. Keep up the great work mate.
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Top scholar from the Hutt
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Huge congratulations to Rohan Kumar from my old school, HIBS, who last week was named as the co-winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence (the top academic award at Secondary School level for NZ).
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Speech to Vic Uni Law School Celebration
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Last Thursday I had the privilege of speaking at a special celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Law at Victoria University of Wellington moving to the Old Government Buildings, the beautiful wooden building across the road from Parliament. I was asked to reflect on my time at law school and where the law had taken me. I was quite nervous as the crowd included a former Prime Minister, the Governor-General, some highly respected judges from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and half the Law Faculty.
Here's my speech.
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Crohns and Colitis at Parliament
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On Monday it was my great pleasure to host Crohn's and Colitis NZ at Parliament. We unveiled a new exhibition called “Unmasking IBD”, representing the masks that people with chronic diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis wear to hide their illnesses in everyday life. The highlight of the exhibition is these mannequins by Wairarapa artist Katie Gracie, who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis nine years ago.
I'm pictured here with Katie, Dr Richard Stein (Chair of CCNZ) and Nicole Thornton (Youth Ambassador CCNZ and the face of our I Can't Wait Campaign).
“Unmasking IBD” will be exhibited in several cities throughout New Zealand until the end of the year.
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Very emotional times at Parliament last week as families affected by Covid-19 border closures came to Parliament to plead with the government to allow their families to be reunited. People like HVHS maths teacher Cameron Conradie moved here in good faith (in fact the government encouraged him to!) on the basis their families would follow. Then the borders closed. More than a year on, we have to do better for these families, who are filling skills shortages and committing to New Zealand. We had 1800 empty beds in MIQ last week so the solution is obvious and easy. Still no announcement from the government about how they will fix this problem.
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No I'm not going on Dancing with the Stars
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No I'm not going on Dancing with the Stars. At least not yet. The Lower Hutt Primary Schools' Sport Association is organising "DanceFest" later this term! The event is open to all year 1-8 students from LHPSSA-affiliated & Wainuiomata Primary Schools. Form a dance group of between 2 and 10 students, come up with a cool name, get your school to register, and come up with an awesome routine!
It's going to be awesome. Check out the video here.
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Coffee at the Strand open now! From 630am each day. Serving delicious Ripe Coffee. A great new addition to Wainuiomata.
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A couple of weeks ago my colleague Stuart Smith and I checked out progress on the new East by West electric ferry. It’s coming along well! Can’t wait for it to open. Will be a major asset for Wellington and the Hutt.
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Someone has written to Chris Brishop asking for my favourite recipe for a cook book they’re putting together. I wonder if my name is deliberately misspelled to indicate they want my beef brisket recipe?!
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