Canterbury earthquake – We will do what it takes

The 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February was one of New Zealand’s biggest disasters, and a great tragedy. Christchurch residents are dealing with the loss of family members and friends, the stress of ongoing aftershocks, and the reality of trying to live in an earthquake-ravaged city.

There are no words to express or spare the pain Cantabrians and New Zealanders are feeling. We are a small nation, and there are few of us who don’t have a connection of some kind to Christchurch. We share the grief Cantabrians are feeling, and all around New Zealand, people are reaching out to help in whatever way they can. The Prime Minister has promised the Government will do whatever it takes to get Christchurch back on its feet. Watch and read the PM’s speech here: http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?ArticleID=35231

For the first time in our history, the Government has declared a Civil Defence national State of Emergency. This means we can make decisions very quickly about hospitals, roads, communications, and essential services such as water, power, and support for those directly affected by the earthquake.

Canterbury earthquake – How you can help

Many people want to know what they can do to support people in Christchurch. Cash donations are the best way to support people affected by the earthquake, as this is the quickest and easiest way to help organisations on the ground get exactly what they need.

If you would like to help, you could contact:
• Red Cross – www.redcross.org.nz
• The Salvation Army – www.salvationarmy.org.nz
• Rotary New Zealand World Community Service - www.rnzwcs.org

Many banks are also offering ways to help Canterbury, so contact yours to find out.

Businesses wanting to offer expertise, and people wanting to volunteer, are asked to please wait and not send staff and resources, or go to Christchurch themselves. When local authorities have a clear idea of what is needed and are in a position to manage goods and volunteers, they will advise publicly what is needed and where.

All other offers of earthquake assistance from the public – including offers of accommodation outside of Christchurch – should be redirected to earthquakehelp@msd.govt.nz

Canterbury earthquake – Civil Defence, Police, and armed forces supporting the search

Civil Defence is coordinating urban search and rescue operations, the treatment and care of injured or affected people, and national resources in support of the local response.

The focus has been the rescue of people alive and trapped in the rubble. Police, civil defence, emergency services, and military personnel will keep working until everyone in Christchurch is accounted for. More than 230 police from around New Zealand have been sent to Christchurch, and assistance has been gratefully accepted from Australia, Britain, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.

More information: http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/

Canterbury earthquake – Supporting those in need

An event on this scale can test even the most resilient Cantabrians. The Government is saying don’t tough it out alone, because people are there to help.

The government has established welfare centres to provide trauma counselling, basic supplies, access to financial assistance, help with emergency accommodation, and referrals to medical facilities. Work and Income staff continue to make contact with elderly people living alone in Christchurch. More than 10,000 calls have been made. Some emergency help and home visits have been needed, but most people are coping well.

Civil Defence payments are available to those who need it. This assistance is designed to meet the immediate needs of people affected by the earthquake. Special Needs Grants and Recoverable Assistance Payments are also available to meet other urgent needs.

More information: http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/

Canterbury earthquake – Health services pull together

Our health services, both public and private, are pulling together to support Canterbury.

Some of Christchurch's most vulnerable residents are being moved to safer accommodation. In some cases that means moving out of the region.

Some hospital patients are being transferred to other hospitals around the country, and specialist staff are arriving from outside the region. Primary care is coping well, and private hospitals are providing x-ray and surgery to help out. There are also triage centres around the city to help take the pressure off, and ambulances and paramedics have arrived in Christchurch from different regions around New Zealand.

The teams in Christchurch are doing an incredible job. We are seeing New Zealand's health professionals at their best once again.

More information: http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/

Canterbury earthquake – Temporary accommodation for those who need it

Housing New Zealand will provide a temporary accommodation service to people displaced by the Canterbury earthquake. This is in addition to its normal business as part of the Civil Defence response.

Housing New Zealand is accepting nationwide offers of accommodation on behalf of the civil defence effort, and will work directly with the people of Canterbury to match them to the most appropriate accommodation available.

If you have accommodation you can offer, or you are looking for help with accommodation following the earthquake, please contact 0800 HELP (0800 435 700) or go to www.housinghelp.govt.nz.

Welfare Working Group Report – helping people into work

Almost one-in-ten working-age New Zealanders – or 354,000 people – are on a benefit. More disturbingly, over 140,000 people have spent ten of the past twenty years on welfare.

We set up the Welfare Working Group because New Zealand needs to do better – socially and financially. The working group’s final report includes 43 recommendations to address long-term benefit dependency. See the report here: http://ips.ac.nz/WelfareWorkingGroup/Index.html

National is committed to providing more support for beneficiaries to get back to work, increase their income, and gain better opportunities. We will carefully consider the report and form new policy. We won’t make changes to the benefit system without a lot of work, and we’ll be seeking public input throughout this process.

We will not cut main benefits. We are not interested in short-term, punitive measures. There are better ways to achieve long-term change.

Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill update

Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill update

This week the Select Committee report on the Marine and Coastal Area was tabled in Parliament.

The Government has responded to feedback asking for greater transparency. The bill will be amended so agreements negotiated with the Crown to recognise customary title must be passed into legislation. This ensures full public and Parliamentary scrutiny, and prevents any future government from closed-door negotiations on customary title.

The Marine and Coastal Area Bill will now go through full second, third, and Committee of the Whole House readings in Parliament.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/feature/common-marine-and-coastal-area

Record funding for Early Childhood Education

National is committed to ensuring more children receive high-quality early childhood education. We are investing $1.4 billion in ECE – the most ever spent by any government.

In some parts of New Zealand, four out of ten children start school having never attended ECE. We recognise the need for improvement, so we are investing $91.8 million for community-led participation projects to provide an extra 3500 new places in areas where participation is low.

We have already extended 20 Hours ECE to include playcentres, kohanga reo, and five year-olds. This gives parents more choice in ECE, and encourages the sector to be more responsive to parents' preferences.

Together, these measures will help maintain a quality ECE sector, and ensure ECE is available to those families who are not currently taking part, but who would benefit the most.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/early-childhood-education-funding-record-14-billion

Minimum wage increased again

The minimum wage has been increased from $12.75 an hour to $13. The new rate comes into effect on 1 April 2011.

The National-led Government is working hard to lift the long-term performance of the economy. We’re committed to creating and protecting jobs while ensuring a fair wage. Since being elected, National has raised the minimum wage by $1 – this is $40 a week.

The 25-cent-an-hour increase, along with tax cuts last year, means workers still have the buying power of their wages. Taking a careful and balanced approach has helped prevent workers being priced out of the market.

We want New Zealanders to earn more, but legislation is not a long-term solution. Good economic policy, good infrastructure, good skills, a good tax system, low levels of debt, and an outward facing economy are what will lift people off the minimum wage.

More information: http://www.http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/minimum-wage-increased-13

Building better results from public services

Building better results from public services

The National-led Government is focused on building better results from public services to improve the lives and wellbeing of New Zealanders.

We are committed to delivering high-quality health care by streamlining bureaucracy, providing better frontline services, and focusing on our health targets. We want an education system that gives New Zealanders the skills they need to participate in the global economy.

We aim to improve results from welfare by addressing long-term benefit dependency, and helping people back into work. We are committed to a strong and effective justice system for a safer New Zealand.

We will scale up what works, get rid of what doesn’t, and move resources to the frontline. We made structural changes in several government agencies in 2010, and are looking at further reforms to streamline and improve the performance of the government bureaucracy.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/feature/statement-parliament-2011

Building a stronger economy

This year the National-led Government will continue building a brighter future for New Zealand.

Our next steps are to put the Government's finances in a stronger position so we don't need to borrow as much. We will continue to roll out our wider economic programme aimed at building stronger, enduring economic growth that raises New Zealanders' incomes.

We are working on two fronts to lower the cost of living for New Zealanders and their families. Our plan to borrow less will help keep prices and interest rates lower, and our economic programme will help build stronger growth and faster rising incomes.

On average, real after-tax wages have risen considerably faster than prices under this Government. After-tax wages have gone up 16 per cent, due to normal wage growth combined with the effect of the tax cuts, while inflation – the price of goods and services – has increased 6 per cent.

This year we will work to ensure after-tax wage growth continues to outstrip price increases.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/feature/statement-parliament-2011

Budget on 19 May will focus on savings and investment

Our third Budget will be delivered on 19 May. It will continue our programme to build New Zealand’s national savings, increase investment, create jobs, and lift incomes, as well as reducing the country’s vulnerability to foreign debt.

In Budget 2009 we had to get through the recession in reasonable shape and turn around the appalling forecasts we inherited – never-ending deficits and ever-increasing debt. In Budget 2010 we changed the tax system to reduce the incentive for excessive spending and borrowing, and to encourage savings. We will continue along that line in Budget 2011.

We will ensure the Government plays its part in lifting national savings by returning to budget surplus as soon as possible and by requiring better and smarter services from the public sector.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/budget-19-may-savings-and-investment-focus

Taking back our Communities

I have huge respect for our Police. They have the unenviable task of keeping our communities safe. That job has become much harder. Some people see the Police as the enemy, fair game when they interrupt them in their illegal endeavours.

The two recent incidents of serious assault on Police in Dunedin are examples of this abhorrent and unacceptable behaviour. This is not a game. The Police go to work each day wanting to make a positive contribution to our community; to feel as though our place is better for their efforts. They do not expect to be routinely abused, spat at, fled from, and assaulted.

I’ve seen some blogs in response to Mayor Dave Cull’s comments on the attacks. They reject his call that the community take responsibility, and suggest that what is needed is politicians to get some backbone, make the hard calls and change the laws to stop such attacks happening. I’ll return to the merits of that view later. But it is worth remembering that no government in recent history has done more to build a safer New Zealand than this National-led Government.

We’ve put more police on the beat. Six hundred extra officers will be on our streets by the end of this year. They now have more tools including expanded DNA collection, and on-the-spot protection orders to combat domestic violence. Parole is harder to get and sentences for our worst repeat offenders will be longer.

We’ve declared war on gangs and P. Police have new powers to intercept gang communications, dismantle drug fortifications, and seize the proceeds of crime.

We’re making progress with the Alcohol Reform Bill. This focuses on minimising alcohol related-harm including crime. It zeros in on where harm is happening – particularly around young people.

But this is also a community responsibility. Governments can pass laws continuously but unless the community is prepared to support those laws with a low threshold for anti-social behaviour, unless we become concerned neighbours again, and above all respect the Police who keep us safe, those laws will be far less effective.

Over to you.

Early Childhood Education Funding Sensible, Affordable.

This financial year, the Government will invest $1.4 billion in Early Childhood Education (ECE). That’s an increase of $200 million over the previous financial year. So it is simply not true to say that funding for ECE has been reduced. The per-child funding of ECE is now $7600 per child per year. This compares to an average of $5528 for a primary school student and $6733 for a student at secondary school. Despite Dr Clark’s scaremongering, 20 hours free ECE is still in place.

However, while the goal of the previous Government was to increase participation in ECE, the massive increase in government funding has resulted in just a 1% increase in participation and in some parts of the country up to 40% of pre-school children are missing out on ECE. So we are making sure that funding reaches those children who need it the most. We are investing $91.8 million over the next four years in five intensive community-led participation projects in high priority areas. This will lead to an additional 3,500 places in ECE, targeted at Maori, Pasifika, and children from lower socio-economic areas.

So why all the fuss about ECE? Put simply, this is about the qualifications of the staff into whose care we entrust our children. The previous Labour Government committed to a goal of 80 % qualified ECE teachers by 2010 and 100% by 2012. This unrealistic target would have led to up to a thousand ECE centres having to close. At the moment only 67 % of teachers in the sector are registered. We amended the target to 80% by 2012.

In Budget 2010 we also announced that we would align funding to the 80% goal. Thus, prior to 1 February 2011, in a facility where the mix and age of children required say 5 staff, the Government would fund all five if they were registered teachers. After 1 February funding will be for up to four registered teachers and one unregistered staff member. The unregistered staff member could be an experienced teacher aide or parent of grown children returning to the workforce but without formal qualifications.

The staffing adjustment could be achieved by attrition. ECE centres have had eight months’ notice of this change and with the turnover in the sector of around 20%, there was plenty of opportunity to do so. Furthermore, given the demand for registered teachers, no registered teacher would be out of a job. The likely impact would be an increase in the proportion of registered teachers in those ECE centres that presently have numbers below 80%.

The union that represents ECE teachers, NZEI, cites research that qualified teachers are a key factor in the provision of quality early childhood education that provides the most benefit for children. I agree with this. However, given the care and safety aspects of ECE I have no doubt that an experienced parent or caregiver can make a meaningful contribution to an ECE facility as part of a team led by registered teachers without compromising educational outcomes.

Dunedin’s ECE facilities were faced with choices in response to the Government’s funding change. Disappointingly, some ECE centres have chosen to burden already financially constrained parents with a fee increase based on the ideological belief that the 80% model would materially compromise the quality of ECE. As the parent of a preschool child, I strongly disagree with this view. What is also disappointing is that some ECE centres unilaterally increased fees without asking parents if they would be happy with the staffing model the Government is funding. My child’s ECE facility wrote to parents outlining the four options the centre was considering. The options did not include the 80% model which avoids the need for fee increases. It did not ask parents whether they would be satisfied with a staffing complement that would avoid the need to increase fees.

In affirming Labour’s commitment to restoring the goal of funding 100% registered teachers, Dr Clark makes no attempt to explain how this (and many other hollow Labour promises) will be funded or how much debt a Labour Government would be prepared to burden those same children with repaying in the future.

My Government’s response is sensible in the constrained economic circumstances without compromising the quality of ECE in New Zealand. I believe this as much as a parent as I do as a politician.

More money for primary sector innovation

The National-led Government has announced a further $107 million of funding from the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) for primary sector innovation.

This money will support innovation in the aquaculture, wildfish harvesting, and timber industries. The investment takes the Primary Growth Partnership's spending in our world-leading primary sectors to more than $475 million.

The Ministry of Science and Innovation was launched this week. It will lead our drive to harness scientific and innovative capability across the business, science, and government sectors.

Last month, the Government announced public and private investment of $17.25 million over five years in a wool research consortium, tasked with lifting the economic return of the wool industry. The Ministry of Science and Innovation is contributing $8.6 million.

National is committed to lifting economic growth through primary sector innovation.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/primary-sector-innovation-fund-tops-475-million
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/launch-ministry-science-and-innovation
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/1725m-wool-research-consortium-set

New initiatives for biodiversity and green growth

Three huge marine reserves, totalling 435,000 hectares will be established around New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands. The areas are recognised globally for the diversity of their marine life. Protecting the surrounding waters will add to the prestige of this area and its attraction as an eco-tourism destination.

http://beehive.govt.nz/release/subantarctic-islands-become-marine-reserves

The Government is proposing a National Policy Statement to protect indigenous biodiversity. The policy sets out our expectations on how local councils will protect rare and endangered species on private land. This delivers on National’s 2008 election promise, and our commitment to the Māori Party.

http://beehive.govt.nz/release/new-policy-proposed-protect-biodiversity

We have also established an Advisory Group on Green Growth. The group will look at how we can add value to our export industry, ensure smarter uses of technology and innovation, and assist small and medium-sized businesses to become more energy efficient.

http://beehive.govt.nz/release/green-growth-initiative-announced

A bad year for P dealers

2010 was a year P dealers would rather forget. A record 30.4 kilograms of P, worth an estimated $30 million, were seized by Police and Customs. This is up 46 per cent on 2009.

National has made tackling P a priority. Our multi-pronged Methamphetamine Action Plan is paying off by greatly strengthening the police’s arsenal in the fight against P.

These seizures are testament to the vigilance, expertise, and experience of our frontline police and customs officers. Their hard work in reducing the amount of P available weakens the criminal gangs that sell the drug. It reduces crime in our communities, making our neighbourhoods safer for hard-working Kiwi families.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/police-and-customs-make-2010-bad-year-meth-dealers

90-day trial periods a success

Research shows 13,000 New Zealanders got jobs they otherwise wouldn’t have through 90-day trial periods. The trials had a positive impact on jobs for small employers during rising unemployment.

Analysis by New Zealand Institute of Economic Research looked at the impact of trial periods following its introduction in March 2009.

Unemployment peaked at 7.1 per cent that year. Small businesses faced tough economic times, so it was encouraging to see hiring was almost six percentage points higher than expected.

National is committed to lifting the long-term performance of the economy and creating more jobs. Trial periods bring opportunity for all New Zealanders.

With the extension of trial periods on April 1, we expect to see increased hiring through larger employers providing further benefits for hard-working Kiwis.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/minister-welcomes-analysis-trial-periods

Boosting savings and investment

New Zealand needs to save more, spend less, and reduce our reliance on foreign debt. That's the only way we can deliver the jobs, higher incomes, and better living standards that Kiwi families aspire to and deserve.

Improving savings and investment is central to National's economic programme, designed to tilt the economy towards savings, exports, and investment, and away from excessive borrowing and government spending.

The Prime Minister signalled last week the Government is prepared to lift its own savings. We’re working to reduce borrowing and get back to meaningful surplus by 2014/15 – a year earlier than forecast.

We are also considering the viability of a mixed-ownership model for four energy SOEs. This would reduce the amount we need to borrow to boost Government assets such as schools, faster broadband, and better transport infrastructure.

These are just some of the steps the Government is considering to boost New Zealand’s national savings. The Savings Working Group, which delivered its final report this week, has provided a wide range of other practical options worth considering.

The report will help the Government consider its next steps in building a stronger economy. It will also encourage an informed and open public debate on the national savings challenge facing New Zealand.

Any immediate policy decisions are likely to be included in the Budget.

More information: http://national.org.nz/onepager/Boosting_Savings_and_Investment.pdf

General election on 26 November

New Zealand will go to the polls on 26 November, five weeks after the Rugby World Cup final.

Prime Minister John Key announced the general election date this week to create certainty around the tournament, which begins in September.

National will be campaigning on our record as responsible managers of the economy. We are taking clear steps to get the country’s debt under control and to put the right incentives into the economy to drive faster real growth.

The election will also be about building greater value for money in public services, and who has the better plan to build a safer New Zealand.

Over the coming months we will keep developing and implementing our programme to build the brighter future New Zealanders and their families deserve.

More information: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/general-election-be-held-26-november