Dear John,
I've been in politics for a while now but I've never seen a U-Turn like the government performed on Wednesday over it's KiwiSaver Tax - less than 24 hours after the government introduced a Bill to Parliament, they'd dumped the proposal altogether!
The real issue is how on earth they thought this was a good idea in the first place - the tax increase would have knocked $100 billion (yes, you read that right) off KiwiSaver balances by 2070, taking in an additional $220 million per year for the IRD. The government was actually given a range of options, and unsurprisingly, they chose the one that raised the most tax.
National moved quickly to try and kill the KiwiSaver Tax on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis leading the charge. We started a petition on Tuesday night and by Wednesday lunchtime it was already at 20,000 people and counting. National MPs inboxes were being filled with messages from people horrified at the new tax and it didn't even last until Question Time on Wednesday - truly, "Gone by Lunchtime".
The reality is, Labour is addicted to spending and they're addicted to new taxes. We've had a new fuel tax (regional fuel tax), a tenant tax (interest deductibility removal - sign our petition here), a ute tax (fees on utes), a capital gains tax (bright line extension), income tax increases by stealth through inflation, and a proposed new jobs tax (social insurance scheme) - and now a proposed KiwiSaver tax. National thinks Kiwis deserve better - we need to get government spending under control, stop the waste, and focus on a real economic plan to grow jobs and incomes.
I've had a few positive emails about my General Debate speech in the House on Wednesday afternoon - check it out here. Good fun getting stuck on a few of the issues canvassed above.
Cost of Living Payment: The other big political news this week has been the ongoing debacle of the Cost of Living Payment, which has been going to foreign backpackers who picked fruit here 10 years ago, foreign property investors, and even dead people. Truly extraordinary incompetence from the government and the Auditor-General has rightly raised concern about it. Incredibly, Inland Revenue does not know, and has said it may never know, how many ineligible people might have received the payment!
Transport and Resilience in the Hutt: The awful weather in Wellington (well, the whole country) in recent weeks has really highlighted the resilience and transport challenges facing the Hutt Valley. The slip on the Wainuiomata Hill Road last week caused chaos with the traffic backed up all the way past my office to the Coast Road! It's really time we started the planning for a second access road, which I called for last year. There are two big reasons for a new road - the first is resilience, and the second is the unlocking of new land in Wainuiomata North. The new road should go over the hill and connect to either the new Cross Valley Link Road (from White's Line) and into Naenae. There are lots of options, but the point is we need to start the work and get on with it. Hundreds of people are signing my petition - if you haven't already, you can do so here.
The other challenge of course is in Stokes Valley, with similar chaotic stories filling my inbox. At the last election, National proposed investigating a Stokes Valley-Haywards Connector Road. A little-known fact is that Stokes Valley used to have its own bridge to Haywards - it was a wooden suspension bridge, built in 1927. It washed away in the 1930s. A new access would significantly improve access to SH2 for Stokes Valley residents, and increase the resilience of our roading network. We also proposed upgrading the Silverstream Interchange. In many ways, SH2 has long been regarded as the poor cousin to SH1 - we should be progressively upgrading all the interchanges along the route, improving safety and reducing congestion. Trust me when I say that as a Hutt based MP I'll be pushing hard for this in the next National government!
On the positive side, I can report positive progress on two important projects for the Hutt. Last week the new Melling intersection/RiverLink project received interim resource consent! I was proud to lead the campaign to Build Melling Now because it is such an important project for the Hutt Valley and the wider region. It will reduce congestion, build resilience, make walking and cycling more attractive, and improve safety. Alongside the wider RiverLink project it will be the biggest infrastructure investment in Lower Hutt’s history It never made sense that it was delayed by a decade.
The second piece of good news was the turning of the first sod on the Eastern Bays Shared Path. I have advocated and pushed hard for this project since becoming a candidate in 2014 and it is good to see it finally underway. It will help improve resilience in the Eastern Bays, make walking, cycling and scootering more attractive, and link to the shared path around the harbour.
Finally, and sorry to end on a sour note, but I do have to highlight the appalling story of Pritesh and Nan who own Subway/Hell Pizza on Jackson St, Petone. They arrived at work last week to find the Regional Council had removed carparks from outside their store to put a new bus stop in - and then they got a letter saying the Council was thinking about doing the work, even though it had already happened! Appalling stuff from the Regional Council. More below.
Have a great weekend. I'm looking forward to celebrating my first Father's Day (and my birthday on Sunday!)
Chris
P.S Did you see the story I broke about how there are over 200 kids living in cars, a four-fold increase since Labour came to office?
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Last week the new Melling Interchange and RiverLink project received interim resource consent!
I was proud to lead the campaign to Build Melling Now because it is such an important project for the Hutt Valley and the wider region. It will reduce congestion, build resilience, make walking and cycling more attractive, and improve safety. Alongside the wider RiverLink project it will be the biggest infrastructure investment in Lower Hutt’s history.
It never made sense that it was delayed by a decade.Imagine if we were only talking about resource consents in 2032, not 2022!
The next step is for the interim decision to be finalised, and advanced construction planning can then commence. The plan is to finish by 2027.
I’ll keep you posted via email with other significant news and of course if you want to talk to me about anything Melling-related, or indeed have anything I can help with, please drop me a line.
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Exciting day last week as the Eastern Bays Shared Path gets underway! Have advocated and pushed hard for this project since becoming a candidate in 2014. Good to see it finally underway. Will help improve resilience in the Eastern Bays, make walking, cycling and scootering more attractive, and link to the shared path around the harbour.
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Book character day at Boulcott School last week.
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Terrible stuff from the Regional Council
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This is truly crazy. Meet Pritesh and Nan - they own Hell Pizza and Subway on Jackson St. Last Wednesday they arrived at work to find that three carparks outside their store had been removed overnight to make a massive bus stop. No prior warning from Council. No consultation. It just happened. Then they got a letter delivered to them. It says the work will ‘soon be carried out’ (it had already happened). The bus stop is now 24/7, all week. No parking allowed. It will be like that on a ‘temporary’ basis - but ‘temporary’ means until July 2023!!
That’s bad enough. But the actual sign for the bus stop is still down the street (maybe 20 metres), even though the bus stop is right outside their shop. So now Nan has people waiting in Subway in the morning for the bus and people are still using the bus stop for parking anyway - in the 15 minutes I was there today; three cars pulled up and parked there.
For Pritesh and Nan this is an appalling state of affairs. People can’t easily park outside their store to pick up a sandwich or pizza. Doing stock deliveries is much more difficult. And the council didn’t even come and ask them about it - they just did it.
I’ll be fighting this on their behalf. And if you want to support them - maybe get a pizza or sandwich from their stores - if you can get a park!
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Hutt Valley Netball Final
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Well done to Naenae Collegians United who defeated Upper Hutt Maidstone United in the Hutt Valley Netball Premier final on the weekend.
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Visit to Sylvia Park Build to Rent Housing
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You’d be forgiven for thinking we’re in Wellington, but we’re in Auckland. Out at Sylvia Park a couple of weeks ago to see the new ‘Build to Rent’ development by Kiwi Property Group.
Build to Rent housing is housing specifically built for long term renting on a large scale. The development at Sylvia Park will be 295 apartments across 3 buildings. Right next to the train station and shopping centre. Will be a gym in the buildings, shared leisure space - a real community.
Build to Rent is common overseas but rare here. We need more of it and I have a bill in the Parliamentary Ballot to help unlock more of it. There are some technical changes to tax and overseas investment law that will help drive an increase. The government could easily do it tomorrow.
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A wonderful afternoon at the Shivam Dance Academy production on Sunday. Congratulations to all involved. Shivam Dance (or SDANZ) is a wonderful Hutt institution.
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Real pleasure last week to visit ENZOil in Seaview - the green, circular economy in action. Did you know that transformers around New Zealand need oil to run? ENZOil collect the old cooling / insulating oil from transformers and reprocess it through their filtration reactor process (which they have optimised even better than in the UK and Germany) producing a "as new" (and actually superior) oil.
They work with Transpower (which runs the electricity grid) and have room to expand. Their technology means oil can be reused again and again and less imported from overseas - plus, it's cheaper! A real win/win!
This is brilliant technology right in the heart of "Technology Valley" in the Hutt.
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