Dear John,
Normally I send the Bishop Bulletin on a Friday morning, but the end of last week was so flat tack with Parliamentary happenings plus the Hamilton West by-election that I didn't get a chance to write it. So, a special Monday morning edition it is then!
I was in Hamilton on Saturday night to celebrate National's victory in the Hamilton West by-election with our great candidate, Tama Potaka. The media mocked us a bit for saying National were the underdogs in the seat, but it's true - Labour won Hamilton West in 2020 by over 6,000 votes, so to turn that around and win 46% of the vote to Labour's 30% is a great result. The team on the ground in the seat ran an energetic and disciplined campaign and Tama ran on the issues that matter to Hamiltonians - the cost of living and crime. The result definitely sends a message to the government - change is coming. There's lots more work to do next year obviously but the result is an excellent way to end the year. It's the first by-election National has won off the government since 1985!
Three Waters: The last couple of weeks in Parliament have been dominated by the debacle of Labour attempting to "entrench" part of the Three Waters legislation and the fall-out from that attempt. In case you missed it, during the committee stage of the Three Waters legislation back in late November, Labour and the Greens moved an amendment which had the effect of requiring a threshold of 60% of Parliament in the future to agree to changes around the ownership structures of the new water entities. This is called "entrenchment" and is designed to make it harder to change laws in the future. So far it's been used only for constitutional matters (like a three yearly Parliamentary term, and the voting age) and there is - or at least was - a convention against it for anything other than genuinely constitutional provisions. Once you start using it for public policy, it's a very slippery slope. We rightly cried foul as did the legal community - what the government was doing was wrong, anti-democratic and unconstitutional.
After a week of criticism, the government backed down and removed the offending provision in the legislation, but it should never have got to that point. We then had a week of an unedifying spectacle of everyone in the government blaming everyone else for what happened - Jacinda Ardern seems to blame Nanaia Mahuta, she has thrown blame on the Greens and junior Labour MPs,, while David Parker (the Attorney-General) clearly wants everyone to know he opposed it right from the start.... in short, it's a massive mess. In Parliament I likened it to that Spiderman meme where all the Spiders point at each other, which even made the Herald.
We've called for the PM to sack Nanaia Mahuta - she is the one who went against Cabinet's clear instruction not to pursue entrenchment, and someone has to take responsibility for this unconstitutional disaster. You can watch my speech on entrenchment here and on Three Waters as a whole here.
Campaigning abroad: A couple of weeks ago Simeon Brown, Simon Watts and I spent a couple of days in Sydney meeting with infrastructure and housing stakeholders, and while we were there we hosted a great event for Sydney-based National party supporters who are keen on changing the government next year. TVNZ did a story - which you can watch here and the Sunday Times in the UK also covered the event. We are looking at doing further events in other cities next year so if you know of anyone who you think may be interested, please let me know.
Organ Donation: On Monday last week the Compensation for Live Organ Donors Act, which started life as a Member’s Bill in my name, turned five! For five years now, live organ donors have been able to receive compensation of 100 per cent of their earnings for up to 12 weeks after their operation. Live organ donors are heroes who selflessly give a part of their body to improve the lives of others. Prior to the law change, donors were just entitled to the equivalent of the sickness benefit, and it was cumbersome to claim the small amount of money through the Ministry of Social Development. Since the Act has come into force, over $5 million has been paid out to 344 donors. That’s 344 people whose lives have been made a bit easier through compensation for their incredibly generous donations to others.
Around the Hutt: Wow there's a lot on! In amongst Parliament and the by-election I've enjoyed the Petone Christmas Parade, the HVHS Year 13 prizegiving, the Hutt Central School Twilight Gala, and more. Seems like there is an event on almost every night.
Have a great rest of the week. This is the final week of Parliament for the year, and I think all MPs are ready for a break over Christmas. 2023 is going to be a big year!
I'll write again just before Christmas, and that will be the final Bulletin for the year.
Chris
P.S I had many emails about the poor Hungarian family in Otaki who were given 42 days to leave after their residency requests were denied. I wrote an urgent letter to the Minister of Immigration about it and he's now stepped in and resolved the matter - great news!
P.P.S A big thank you to everyone who is delivering my Christmas Newsletter around the Hutt currently! Watch out for one in your mailbox soon.
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Tama Potaka - next MP for Hamilton West
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Tama ran a great campaign and will make an excellent MP for Hamilton West.
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Good luck to these Hutt legends who are at the New Zealand Special Olympics National Summer Games in Hamilton - Lacey is competing in football, Laura and Tasmyn are playing basketball and Patrick is doing ten pin bowling!
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The Bunny St bus shelters were removed a couple of weeks ago as part of the redesign to the area. This is the first stage to make Bunny St safer for people as they go about their daily lives. I've been calling for this for at least three years now. Still more work to do but good to see progress.
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From Petone to Johnsonville! Took Nicola Willis to visit On Trays Scheckter's Deli in Johnsonville Mall on Friday. They’ve recently relocated from Petone but our loss is Johnsonville and the northern suburbs’ gain! An amazing store and lovely to catch up with Steven and Valda again.
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Hutt Central School Twilight Gala
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Amazing Hutt Central School Twilight Gala last week. Great to see Paddy Gower helping out as emcee. Thanks to those who bought some raffles from me 
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This is my "I can't believe what Willie Jackson is saying" face
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In June 2021, two of New Zealand’s longest serving organisations supporting the disability sector came together to create meaningful impact in the lives of disabled people. Now, 18 months on, Life Unlimited Charitable Trust has rebranded as Your Way l Kia Roha, establishing an organisation where disabled people can express their choice and control over decisions impacting their life. Good to be at the formal launch of the new name on Monday in the Hutt!
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Congrats to my friend Prabha Ravi who won the Dr Robert Khan Commemoration Award at the Indian Newslink Business Awards this week! Lower Hutt is proud of you, Prabha!
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Always love the Petone Christmas Parade! Thank you to the Jackson St Programme for their work putting it together. Hope you liked my float.
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In honour of Guns 'N Roses!
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