Dear John,
A busy couple of weeks. I can't decide if the highlight has been the opening of Transmission Gully, the announcement of COVID-19 restrictions beginning to end... or the Parliamentary Cricket team winning our annual match against the Diplomats! Tough choice but I think for Wellington it's definitely TG.... more than a hundred years after it was first proposed and more than two years after it was meant to open, we finally have a new route north on SH1. I can't wait to drive it! It's worth remembering that it was National that finally got the road underway, after decades of talk and no action. It was one of many "Roads of National Significance" projects started by Steven Joyce. Now we just need to sort the Basin and the Mt Vic and Terrace tunnels....watch this space!
COVID-19: Just this weekend to go before COVID-19 restrictions begin to be seriously loosened, with vaccine passes no longer required and vaccine mandates narrowed. These are good steps forward and we welcomed the announcements when made by the Prime Minister last week. Our view is that the government should now take the logical next step and drop the Traffic Light Framework altogether. Let's face it, it was designed for Delta, not Omicron, it's never been applied consistently, and most people don't understand it. We also need a timeline for a phase-out of all vaccine mandates, which made sense six months ago but have increasingly fostered real division in society (for example, why are unvaccinated kids still banned from visiting Parliament?) I addressed all of these matters and more in a long post on Facebook - have a read and let me know your thoughts. All in all, they are good steps from the government but they need to move beyond "control" and give New Zealanders some freedom back. It's time to get back to normal.
It was great to have Christopher Luxon in the Hutt a couple of weeks ago. We started the afternoon with a "Small Business Forum" in Petone hosted by the Jackson St Programme. Petone holds a special place in Christopher's heart as his first big job was at Lever Brothers down the eastern end of Jackson St. It was awesome to hear from business owners about what they wanted to see from National and current market conditions. We made a quick stop in at OnTrays Deli for a coffee before heading to Rembrandt in Hautonga St to see their showroom and warehouse. An iconic Hutt company. We finished the day off at MJH Engineering in Gracefield learning about structural steel fabrication. While I'm writing about Christopher - I'm holding a fundraising dinner with him in a couple of weeks - tickets here or drop me an email if you're interested.
Out and about: Last week was a Parliamentary recess so it was great to get out and about, collecting for Blind and Low Vision NZ, visiting the Koha Shed, Hutt Valley Gymnastics, Wainuiomata Fruit and Veg Co-Op, and the revamped Wainuiomata Police station, to name a few. I've also been working away on the issue of the expanded bus stop that Metlink wants to put outside Forage Mechants of Wellington and Cooks Trophies on Victoria St in Alicetown. The new bus stop will take out every single car park outside these stores! The Mayor and I had a productive meeting with Metlink last Friday - I'll keep you posted.
Have a great weekend and as ever if I can be of assistance, please drop me an email or call my offices.
Chris
P.S I've started a new weekly radio panel with Labour MP Kiri Allan if you're interested. It's every Wednesday morning at 7.15 with Tova O'Brien on Today FM. Tune in and give me your feedback!
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Finally it's open! Have you driven it yet?
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Christopher and I called in at OnTrays for a coffee and some delicious snacks.
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Petone Small Business Forum
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Thanks to the Jackson St Programme for hosting us for a very useful Forum.
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Wainuiomata Fruit and Veg Co-Op
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Called into say hello at the Wainuiomata Fruit and Veg Co-Op on Wednesday morning last week. A great service for the community - twelve dollars gets you a lot of fruit and vegetables and a lot cheaper than the supermarket. Thanks to Pastor Andrew Sa’u and his hard working team of volunteers. You are doing an amazing job.
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Great win for the NZ Parliamentary Cricket XI last weekend in our annual game against the Diplomats XI. We won back the shield we lost last year. Diplomats all out for 74. K McAnulty figures of 4-6 from 5 overs! David Bennett with his Rod Latham-esque dibbly-dobblers took 2/17 and Paul Goldsmith 1-31. No wickets for me. We were in trouble early but McAnulty and Kane Stanford took us home in the 15th over. Parliament 75/6, a win by four wickets.
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Celebrating Holi down at the Petone foreshore a couple of weeks ago.
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Collecting for Blind & Low Vision NZ
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Visit to Hutt Valley Gymnastics
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Hutt Valley Gymnastics have recently moved into new facilities in Moera. A fantastic new building and a growing club. Thanks for the tour and a chance to check it out. No beam or bar work for me though...
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Will we see the Seakraft Chute again?
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Will the end of vaccine passes mean the end of the Seakraft fish and chip delivery chute?! Let's hope not.
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