As the colder months begin to settle in I hope you are all well
prepared for Autumn and the Winter ahead. Over the past month I have
commemorated ANZAC Day around New Zealand, been visiting Stakeholders
from Mosgiel to Westport and championing your concerns in
Parliament.
This year for Anzac Day I joined the Mt Albert Grammar School
community for a special service paying tribute to all the Albertians
who have been a part of our armed forces in their Centenary Year. I
also had the privilege on ANZAC Day to pay tribute to all those who
served during the Korean War and the families they left behind at the
Pt Chevalier RSA alongside one of the stalwarts of the Korean Veterans
Community Lt. Wally Wyatt MNZM.
It was a special pleasure supporting him and other veterans at the
poignant services and wonderful to join everyone afterwards for lunch
at each event. It is really important to me that we remember those who
have served for the future of New Zealand and our way of life.
Just before Anzac Day I wrote down my thoughts in the Indian
Newslink about what it means to all New Zealanders, particularly those
from multicultural backgrounds, check it out below:
Anzac Day
is a day of reflection for our nation no matter which of our over 213+
ethnicities, religions and communities you belong to.
The
comradery of the ANZAC message reaches out to all faiths and people in
New Zealand in the spirit of service. New Zealand’s ANZAC spirit is
one of a multicultural identity under the Southern Cross and devoted
to the bonds of friendship between New Zealand and those we as New
Zealanders protect. It is a character that perpetuates in the course
of freedom and sacrifice in the cause of the freedoms of others
regardless of their nationality.
The ANZAC
will is not one of celebration or sadness, it is one of comradery and
strength. It is emblematic of the memory of all those young men and
women who have fallen for New Zealand since our nationhood. The
service of soldiers from New Zealand to the Commonwealth and foreign
shores to save others and protect their homeland forged our
nationhood.
The story
of early migrant settlers of the 19th and early 20th century joining
the New Zealand contingents of the First World War despite racial and
religious intolerance of the time no doubt makes their service harsher
and particularly poignant.
They
sailed for Egypt, Gallipoli and the Western Front in the cause of
service and the knowledge of their duty to others. Jagt|Tagt
Singh, an early Indian migrant to New Zealand from the Punjab
Province, chose to join other New Zealanders in service fighting
across the Middle East. Sgt
Major Victor Thomas Low served at Arras and Marne through to
the close of the war alongside his brother Norman who fought at
Gallipoli and the Somme. Their addition to the New Zealand ANZAC
legacy perpetuates through the message New Zealand in Bulford nestled
on the hills of England, A large white chalk Kiwi Victor mapped out as
part of the New Zealand Army Education Unit stationed in Salisbury
Plain at the close of the Great War. Their Chinese ancestry made no
difference to their valour as veterans of New Zealand.
More
recently, the service of Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand as
Governor-General of New Zealand and Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief and
the initiation of Louis
Singh Khalsa Talbot as the first baptised Sikh to join the New
Zealand Defence Force in recent times are testaments to the continuing
progression of the Anzac story into our modern multicultural nation.
The story of our Anzac Spirit is a story of cultural identity. It is a
story for all of us as New Zealanders no matter where we have come
from because our communities all have their own identity in the story
of service.
Every New
Zealander has an Anzac story in their life. If you have yet to find
yours, I recommend that you walk down to your local school, church or
library to start. There, among the flagstones and grounds, you may
find a memorial to the names of those who served and stood where you
stand today.
The Online
Cenotaph is a permanent digital memorial to those who have served.
Look to these community memorials and you will find those same names
etched not only in granite but also in data as a part of our nation’s
heritage and legacy.
No matter
where you are this Anzac day one thing is clear,
With the passing of the month of Ramadan comes the joy and
celebrations of Eid across the Muslim world!
The stoic determination and efforts of our New Zealand
Muslim brothers and sisters as they commemorated the heritage of their
faith through weeks of fasting, prayer and commemorations should not
be underestimated, particularly as COVID-19 has shaped our abilities
to engage with one another in the ways we would like to best. The time
of the year is special for followers of the Islamic faith. For people
of other faiths, like myself, we should always be conscious of the
importance these occasions are for identity.
It’s a timely opportunity to remind all people that
diversity and differences can only add value to our country and will
not hinder our identity as a multicultural nation.
National Party values our Muslim community and the
important contributions they make to New Zealand. As a country, we
should always reflect that religion, ethnicity or language differences
should not be a barrier to our values but instead be recognised as an
advantage to work together with others and celebrate our unity as New
Zealanders.
Eid celebrations come as the country borders re-open,
families re-unite and communities are able to gather once more. Eid
al-fitr will be a truly special occasion this year for our Muslim
community. The solemn dates of Suhoor and Iftar now transform into
Sweet Eid cuisines of Knafeh, Balaleet and Halwa amidst Songs and Eid
Prayers to acknowledge the year ahead.
Looking to New Zealand’s own year ahead we see many trials
still for our country. As we enter colder months we see rising costs
of living, continued difficulties for many at our borders to come to
New Zealand with their skills and talents and further struggles for
New Zealand business owners chafing at regulatory burden. This year’s
Eid celebrations will fall within the shadow of the looming Budget for
2022 which will be announced on May 19th . We all can only hope there
will be relief from the impacts of the past two years for all New
Zealand in a similar way that Eid provides great joy following
Ramadan.
No matter where you are spending Eid this year, I wish you
all a very happy and blessed celebrations.
People around our community are getting concerned about crime
across the Auckland Region. We are seeing shops being ram-raided,
growing truancy numbers and a drop in confidence for safety on our
streets. I've been visiting shops around Mt Albert and meeting with
business owners in Auckland about ways we can make our community more
secure and help all our stores and families feel safe.
Just in Auckland city the statistics are shocking with people now
waiting nearly 2 hours for Police response around when back in 2017 it
was only about 25 minutes.
Drastic action is needed at Police and from the Government to make
people feel they can live safely in our city again.
Please reach out if you are not feeling safe in Auckland right now
and as always please contact one of the agencies below if you or
someone you know needs immediate help:
Until recently COVID-19 had stopped the ability for New Zealanders
to get around our great country. Over the past few days I have been
travelling around New Zealand meeting with stakeholders across my
portfolios to hear about what they need for the future of New Zealand.
Thank you to my Parliamentary Colleagues Michael Woodhouse and Maureen
Pugh for hosting me in your beautiful parts of New Zealand.
From Mosgiel and Dunedin to large stretches of the West Coast it
was a real pleasure meeting so many people to talk about issues facing
them, particularly around connectivity, digital exclusion and
multicultural support. You can read all about my activities on these
trips on my Facebook Page here.
As always, if you need help or want to hear from me further please
reach out and we'll be in touch, my next regional tours will be taking
me to the Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Southland and the Waikato, stay
tuned!
Under 'Orange'
some COVID-19 policies are still in place in Parliamentary premises so
please phone or email for a friendly chat before visiting the office
so my team can help you.
Melissa Lee National List MP based in
Auckland Authorised by Melissa Lee Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
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