Dear John,
Happy new year (can you still say that at the end of January?) and I hope this first Bishop Bulletin for 2022 finds you well. I'm writing this from Queenstown where the National caucus has gathered for our annual "two day caucus" meeting where we plan the year ahead. I'm really looking forward to the year under our new Leader Christopher Luxon. There's lots to do!
For me it'll be an exceptionally busy year - alongside fatherhood (Jenna is due in June) we are also building a house! The Herald did a story yesterday with all the details and we've had some lovely comments - thank you to those who emailed. The gist is that we are moving out of Petone after seven very happy years living there and moving to Days Bay where we are building a house. While the house is built we'll be based in Miramar to be nearer both our parents. I want to assure you that my commitment to Hutt South is undimmed - both my offices remain open, I'll still be pushing hard on Hutt issues locally and nationally, and I'll be active in the community as usual. Just sleeping outside the electorate at night :) We will really miss Petone though - particularly the Jackson St eateries and we still haven't finished our project of trying every restaurant from west to east!
I tried to get a bit of a break over summer but it ended up being a very busy one with omicron arriving at the border and now in the community. I spent the summer calling for quicker action on boosters (why couldn't people book until January 17?), kids' vaccinations (we should have been underway before Christmas in schools) and rapid antigen testing in particular. Plus of course we had the debacle of DJ Dimension (his third visit to NZ) testing positive after leaving isolation early, and Clarke Gayford trying to get rapid tests from the pharmacy for his mates. Clarke is actually right on the substance (more on that below) but pretty inappropriate behaviour.
What's become very clear in the past week or so is that the government basically took the summer off. They have no real plan for omicron - it's all being made up on the fly. The "plan" released by Dr Ayesha Verrall a few days ago was laughable - just 2 and a half pages of text with no clarity over when the phases start, what a critical worker is, and when all the necessary technology will be ready. Sadly we are making the same mistake with omicron as with delta - a failure to plan ahead and to be proactive rather than reactive. Christopher Luxon laid out what we should be doing here.
Omicron is here now and it's not going away. It will spread quickly and overwhelm our testing and contact tracing systems (which could barely cope with delta). That's why I've been so hot on rapid tests, which provide a result in 15 minutes. They're widely available overseas. The UK government sends them to your home and in Singapore they're in vending machines. In NZ you can't even buy them in a supermarket or pharmacy. That needs to change urgently so people can take personal responsibility for their health.
The government has been very slow to act on rapid tests. In fact for most of last year they were effectively banned, which was always ludicrous. The government belatedly allowed a few companies to import some at the end of last year but I revealed last week that the government is now confiscating (they use the term "consolidating") them all from the private sector! It is truly extraordinary - having not ordered enough itself or early enough, the government is now panicking and nicking them from companies who actually did the right thing. I talked to Newstalk ZB about this - have a listen here. We're not going to let up on this issue - rapid tests will be very important as we get through the next few months.
Then we get to MIQ, the lottery of human misery. No doubt you've seen the news of pregnant, unmarried journalist Charlotte Bellis who is stuck in Afghanistan because she was denied an emergency MIQ spot - but for every Charlotte Bellis there are so many Kiwis stuck offshore who can't get home to their own country, often in very desperate circumstances. It's a tragedy and the morality of MIQ will diminish even further now that omicron is in the community. We are stopping fully vaccinated Kiwis with no COVID from entering NZ while people with omicron in NZ isolate at home. It's wrong. Again, expect to hear more from us on this.
Finally, if you live in the Hutt I hope you got my Christmas newsletter and survey over the break! Thanks to the many people who helped me deliver it around the Hutt. I'm about to close the survey off (results next Bulletin) but you can still fill out the survey online if you'd like - link here.
Parliament is back next week and the political year will really kick off. I'm raring to go - it's going to be fun. As always if I can assist with anything please drop me an email or contact my office.
Chris
P.S Great to see the Wainuiomata Police Station in action again!
P.P.S. When on earth will Transmission Gully open?!
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At our (old) house in Petone with Ladyhawke (photo credit NZ Herald)
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Says it all really doesn't it.
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Holocaust Remembrance Day
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January 27 was Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking 77 years since the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz. As I do every year I attended the special commemoration service at the Jewish section of Makara Cemetery. On January 27 every year we say never again and never forget. We remember all those who perished in the Shoah.
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It was a real pleasure to open the Heretaunga Caravan Club Rally at Naenae College a couple of Fridays ago - their 21st Central Regional Rally. Pictured here with Owen (President) and Don (Vice President). As someone said to me once, it’s a sense of freedom that you don't get with other holidays.
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The SHE Trust was established in 1993 when all of the local MPs were women (Joy Quigley, nee McLauchlan, Sonja Davies, and Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan), to mark 100 years of Women's Suffrage. It presents annual awards to women in the Hutt leaving school and going onto tertiary study (or returning to study). When I became a MP the first thing Joy said to me was that I had to support the Trust! It was good to attend the 2022 awards last week.
The winners of the awards were:
Ruby Campbell-Stokes, Scholarship, St Oran’s College
Jade Fernandez, Award, Sacred Heart College
Maria Williams, Award, Chilton St James
Sarah Nicholson, Scholarship, 2nd chance, doing midwifery
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Can't beat F & C on the beach
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Ladyhawke is eyeing up the fish I think...
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Going to be a big issue this year. Are you noticing the increase in the cost of living?
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Brilliant Christmas Present from Jenna
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Jenna outdid herself this year - replica NZ Black Caps shirt from the World Test Championship Grand Final!
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Dropping off some food for the Wellington City Mission ‘Social Supermarket’ and their Christmas hampers just before Christmas.
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On the Tree of Joy at Queensgate before Christmas. Run by my Rotary Club (Hutt City). Come and grab and ticket from the tree, buy a present for what’s on the ticket (eg boy, aged 6) and bring it back and Rotary and our charity partners ensure it goes to a kid in the Hutt who might go without at Christmas. A great initiative.
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Took one shirt away with me on holiday this summer. Ended up on TV four nights in a row. A very hard working shirt! Also got me through anniversary dinner with Jenna...
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