John,

I’m writing to you with my read of the week that’s been, and to keep you up to date with the many issues we’re working hard on here at Parliament. I look forward to writing to you regularly to keep you in the loop.

Firstly, thank you to all of you who followed or attended our excellent 86th annual conference which was held last weekend in Christchurch. The new Te Pae convention centre is a wonderful venue and its sense of renewal was the perfect backdrop for our conference.

You can watch my introductory video below, and my own keynote speech is here.

The theme was Taking New Zealand Forward, which National will do in government, and is the opposite direction to the one Labour is taking us all. Every quarter for the past two years inflation has outstripped wage growth, meaning New Zealanders’ purchasing power is declining so we’re all going backwards under the Labour Government.

At the conference, I announced National’s new “Welfare that Works” policy. While Labour talks a big game about caring for disadvantaged people, there’s no sign of that with the number of people on the Jobseeker benefit having increased by 50,000 during Labour’s time in government, which, obviously, started well before Covid was even heard of.

Further, at a time that businesses are crying out for workers, there are 13,000 under 25 year olds who’ve been on the Jobseeker benefit for longer than a year. How can this be? The only answer is that the Government has not enough ambition for the people who most need help. As I said at the conference, National cares. We care deeply and we won’t go on funding failure .

If the Ministry of Social Development can’t make these young people a priority, we’ll find someone who can. Our proposal will bring community providers into the mix, with job coaches who will personally assist Jobseekers to find work. For those who manage to find a job and stay off welfare for 12 months, there’ll be a $1000 bonus, but for those who don’t engage with their plan without good reason, the free ride will be over.

People have responsibilities as well as entitlements. If you can work, you should, or be genuinely trying to find a job.

Social Development and Employment spokesperson Louise Upston and I issued a press release which you can read here for more detail.

You’ll doubtless have seen the news about our newest MP, Sam Uffindell. You have my assurance as Leader that I take this matter seriously. The party has hired Maria Dew QC to undertake an investigation and it’s now appropriate to let her get on with her task. More broadly, I am proud of the culture we’ve established in the National Party caucus. We are a hard-working, cohesive teams of MPs who are focussed on unseating this incompetent government.

On better news this week, the TV One Kantar poll released on Monday night showed for the first time in more than two years that a National/Act alliance could form a government. Polls will go up and down and I don’t read too much into any of them individually, but I certainly sense that people are fed up with a Government that hasn’t achieved anything it said it would. Child poverty is worse, KiwiBuild was a failure, the health system is in crisis, inflation is running rampant – the list goes on.

A National Government that I lead would be doing a far better job of managing the economy, and getting things done.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and wishing you all a good weekend,
Christopher

Nicola Willis: Getting the economy working for you

Last weekend, at our annual conference in Christchurch, I spoke about National’s plan to take New Zealand forward. My message was simple: National has a better way. We will get the economy working for you once more.

We will restore careful economic management to this country so that prices stop rising so fast, Kiwis can get ahead and businesses can grow.

Chris Bishop: The Labour Party is desperate, right?

Thank you to those who have messaged me about my appearance on Newshub Nation last weekend. I got pretty fired up! You can watch me get stuck into the Labour Government below.

Louise Upston: Jobseeker benefit numbers remain sky high

Today’s figures show Jobseeker numbers are still incredibly high despite labour shortages in almost every sector.

Weekly benefit statistics from the Ministry of Social Development show over 170,000 New Zealander’s rely on the Jobseeker benefit to make ends meet.

Greater accountability is needed in the welfare system. Consequences, including sanctions, should be imposed where jobseekers repeatedly fail to comply with their obligations.

National’s Welfare that Works policy sees young jobseekers receive a proper needs assessment, a plan to address any barriers to work and job coaching from community organisations.

Unlike Labour, we simply do not accept some people are too hard to help. Instead, we will work with them one by one to enable them to reap the independence and opportunities a job provides.

Erica Stanford: Skills shortages will persist through next year

In the year to June, 11,500 more people left New Zealand than arrived, with the lowest level of migrants arriving since the 1990s.

From shortages in farm and construction workers to nurses and midwives – Labour has no plan, and Kiwis are paying the price.

I held the Government to account in the House this week - you can watch my general debate below.