An extremely busy couple of weeks... bring on Christmas!

What a couple of weeks!
Dear John,

Wow what a couple of weeks in politics since I last wrote to you! I'm writing this at Parliament with the House in urgency ([link removed]) (which means we sit until midnight each night) and the government wants the House to deal with over 24 Bills, including 3 Waters. On Wednesday the Reserve Bank raised the Official Cash Rate by 75 basis points ([link removed]) (the first time ever) and forecast a recession, on Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled that the voting age should be 16 ([link removed]) , not 18, last week the government introduced two new massive Bills to reform the Resource Management Act, and National
announced a new serious youth offenders policy ([link removed]) . And I've probably missed a few things!

Interest Rates: The RBNZ's move on Wednesday to raise the OCR by 75 basis points just piles on the pain for Kiwi families. It's the ninth rate hike in a row, as the Bank is forced to screw ever tighter on interest rates to try and put a lid on rampant inflation. Ominously, the Reserve Bank is not only forecasting a year-long recession, but it believes inflation has not peaked, and will still be higher at the start of next year than it is now. Half of the mortgages in New Zealand will come up for refixing in the next 12 months. Many already stretched New Zealanders will now have to find hundreds of extra dollars a week to meet their payments. New Zealand needs careful economic management and fiscal responsibility to get us through this difficult period. We need to rein in wasteful spending, stop adding new costs and taxes, refocus the Reserve Bank on price stability, let Kiwis keep more of what they earn, and remove bottlenecks in the economy like Labour’s overly restrictive immigration
settings.

3 Waters: The government is determined to press ahead with its "3 Waters" reforms, which create four big unaccountable mega-entities, confiscate local assets, and impose unnecessary co-governance. There's definitely an issue with water infrastructure in New Zealand, but the government's solution is the wrong one and National has opposed it the whole way through. This week the "Water Services Entities Bill" passed its committee stage in Parliament, and for some reason 3 Waters has become "5 Waters" with now geothermal and coastal water included too. The government is determined to press ahead and it will pass into law in December. National will repeal and replace this flawed model. I gave a speech on the issue ([link removed]) to Rural and Provincial Mayors last week going into more details about this.

Serious Youth Offenders: Last week National announced new policy ([link removed]) to deal with young serious offenders ([link removed]) such as ram-raiders, who are causing mayhem around the country. Ram raids are up 500% in the last couple of years, with a ram raid happening every 15 hours on average. Locally, I know many people are really concerned about the spate of horrific assaults ([link removed]) against young people around Queensgate mall. Under National, young offenders will face consequences for their actions. National will create a new Young Serious Offender (YSO) category, targeting the ringleaders of crimes like ram-raids. We will also create Young Offender Military Academies where YSOs aged 15 to 17 can be sent for up to 12 months. The
Academies will provide discipline, mentoring and intensive rehabilitation to make a decisive intervention in these young offenders’ lives. Furthermore, National will fund community organisations and other non-government agencies to break the cycle of offending. Some YSOs will be ordered to undergo intensive supervision by community-based organisations. This will mean they face consequences for their actions and are equipped with tools to turn their lives around, while remaining connected to their families.

Around the Hutt: It's been a busy time around the Hutt recently too, and I've enjoyed attending events like the Hutt Chamber Business Excellence Awards (congrats to all winners!), the Dyer St School Brick Show, the inaugural Tamil conference at the Events Centre, Deepavali celebrations, the Rudolf Steiner school fair, and more. Tonight is the Petone Christmas Parade - watch out for the Bishmobile!

Christmas Newsletter: Before I sign off for this week, just a reminder I'm gearing up to deliver my annual Christmas newsletter and survey and I need a hand getting these into mailboxes around the Hutt. If you're able to help me deliver a few, please click here. ([link removed]) We make it super easy - you can either pick them up from my office or we can drop them off to you, and they come sorted with a walking route and in the right order - you just put them into mailboxes. There's over 25,000 to deliver so if you could lend a hand that would be amazing! Sign up here. ([link removed])

Have a great weekend. Early next week the House is in recess and I'm spending a couple of days in Sydney with Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown and Local Government Spokesperson Simon Watts, meeting with NSW State Ministers and Infrastructure experts. We're also hosting drinks (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Sydney%20Drinks) for National supporters in Sydney - let me know (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Sydney%20Drinks) if you know someone who might like to come along!

Chris

P.S Did you see my opinion piece in the Herald on infrastructure? ([link removed])

P.P.S If you're keen to support me and National, want to meet Nicola Willis and Erica Stanford, or just fancy a fun night out with delicious food and drinks, then I'd love to see you at my annual Christmas Drinks event on 8 December. Tickets here ([link removed]) (it's a fundraiser) or email me. (mailto:[email protected])

Last year's Christmas Drinks with Nicola, Chris & Erica was such a success, we're doing it all over again!

Please come along and enjoy Christmas drinks in the summer sun (we hope!) at the beautiful home of Chris & Kathryn Mackay in Woburn, Lower Hutt. There'll be lots of yummy food by local caterers ESSC Eats.

This is a fundraising event for the National Party in the Hutt Valley. There's just a year to go until the election! We are gearing up for a strong campaign in the Hutt and we would love your support. Click here to buy a ticket ([link removed]) or email us. (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Christmas%20Cocktail%20Tickets)
Have a drink with me in Sydney?

Do you know a National supporter living in Sydney? I’ll be in town next week with Simeon Brown MP ([link removed][0]=AZXpAw4AsKkcqWeTc2CTSeNMe6ygOxkVNcMcVetaUgLoR46mNwNJqIusep8H3VNQ0QsB2VDMJl8cbG4penvu70VDy7PdxHIJh1blWFGyIhCPps1LjTTleAgepL_bTFFpIVZ6_aS43takX4iGOcD253v6vLm2G6CvFy2QIbVWwd2Ew4BidValo5-XIzjPz5_910k&__tn__=-]K-R) and Simon Watts MP for North Shore ([link removed][0]=AZXpAw4AsKkcqWeTc2CTSeNMe6ygOxkVNcMcVetaUgLoR46mNwNJqIusep8H3VNQ0QsB2VDMJl8cbG4penvu70VDy7PdxHIJh1blWFGyIhCPps1LjTTleAgepL_bTFFpIVZ6_aS43takX4iGOcD253v6vLm2G6CvFy2QIbVWwd2Ew4BidValo5-XIzjPz5_910k&__tn__=-]K-R) and we’re hosting drinks - come and hear about the campaign to win government and our priorities. Drop me a message (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Sydney%20Drinks) for details.
National will crack down on serious repeat youth offenders like ram-raiders to turn their lives around and to protect the public. A ram-raid every 15 hours shows that Labour’s soft-on-crime approach is failing. Enough is enough. Under National, young offenders will face consequences for their actions. ([link removed])
Tamil Conference
It was a huge pleasure to help officially open the inaugural NZ Tamil Conference at the Lower Hutt Events Centre a couple of weekends ago, alongside Melissa Lee MP. The conference brought together Tamil Sangams (organisations) from around NZ for a day of discussions around language, culture and identity. Tamil is the oldest official language in the world and the 20,000 Tamils in NZ (estimated) are doing a great job preserving it for future generations.
Girls' Brigade Prizegiving
A pleasure as always to attend the Wainuiomata Girls’ Brigade annual awards evening last week. Marianne Dobie has just ticked over 37 years service. Thank you for all your work for young people and congrats to all on another splendid year.
Hutt Chamber Business Excellence Awards
Big congrats to Kirstie and the team from The Beauty Lounge who won best emerging business at last week's Business Excellence Awards.
Visit to Rove Rentals
Called into see Andrew and Nicola at brilliant Hutt company Rove Rentals on Hutt Road. Cargo Vans, Passenger Vans, Cars, Disability Vehicles - all from a local family-owned business with great service. Check them out next time you need to hire a car for a few days 🙂
Caption Contest!
In Thames recently with local MP Scott Simpson. Send your entries here. (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Caption%20Contest)
Friends of Waiwhetu Stream
Was sorry I couldn’t pick up my copy of this excellent booklet at the Friends of Waiwhetu Stream AGM the other night. The booklet marks ten years since the founding of the Friends group and records all of the extraordinary work in that time. I’m proud of my own little contribution, looking after a section of the stream and clearing the rubbish every month.
Introducing Katie Nimon
Absolutely delighted to announce that Katie Nimon will be our candidate for Napier in the 2023 election. Katie did a great job in Napier in 2020 and will build on that momentum in 2023 to try and turn the seat blue!

Katie, 32, started her career in advertising, before taking up a marketing role with the family business Nimon & Sons. She then worked for three years as the company’s general manager and has worked as the transport manager for the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council since 2021.

Katie was born and raised in Hawke’s Bay, attending Iona College before gaining a Bachelor of Design (Honours) and later an Executive MBA from Massey University.

In her spare time, Katie volunteers as a mentor for young women through the Shine Programme, and previously served on the advisory panel for EIT’s School of Hospitality and Tourism.

Katie lives in Napier with her partner Jeremy. They are getting married in December.
Regular Jeremy Photo
Special visitor at Parliament on Wednesday!

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