Dear Constituents of the Papakura Electorate,
I would like to thank everyone who supported me and the National Party in the Papakura Electorate during the last Election. I am thrilled to be re-elected in Papakura and it will be a privilege to be your Member of Parliament for another three years. Nationally, the election result is disappointing but the National team will be back in force in 2023. In the meantime we will be holding the government to its promises. I will focus on doing this as the confirmed leader of the National Party and your MP for Papakura.
I am very appreciative of all the supportive messages, all the advice, useful information, and cards that I received before the Election and since. You certainly kept me going and it was great to hear from all of you.
I am also grateful for all the practical help that I received from so many of you who volunteered during the Election. It is really heart-warming to know that so many of you are passionate about the National Party and its need to be a force for promoting prosperity and the practical management of our country through our New Zealand Parliament.
I would like to reassure you that I will continue to represent the Papakura Electorate to the best of my ability throughout this term of government. Any concerns or issues that you may have will be of top priority to me and you are always welcome to contact me or the Papakura Electorate office.
The new government is promising to build new infrastructure and to employ out-of-work New Zealanders to do this. My National opposition will be focussing on holding them to this promise as everyone in Papakura and the rest of Auckland is suffering from the continued congestion on our roads and the continued inefficient public transport across Auckland.
But we must be mindful of local businesses large and small and of the residents. Infrastructure is necessary but preserving long-standing local properties and livelihoods has to be in the mix too.
Reforming the Resource Management Act will play a large part in improving our Electorate’s housing. It will provide benefits for many other people across New Zealand too. The Resource Management Act must be replaced with better, more efficient regulation and fewer restrictions.
I will be lobbying hard for the government to follow through on this promised reform from the Prime Minister. It is the only way to get more houses built and to solve the current chronic housing shortage. The Labour-Greens-NZ First government of the last three years did very little on this except to allow the many building programmes, begun by the National government in its last term, to be completed.
As you know I am a strong supporter of local businesses and our local New Zealand economy. I am planning to visit and support many local businesses, food outlets and tourism ventures over the next few months as we enjoy the fine weather and the holidays of summer. Buying from local shops and suppliers for Christmas will really help our domestic economy and keep people in jobs.
I will also be supporting local agriculture and promoting the need for sensible water management to enable horticulture to thrive. Food production is going to continue to be our greatest resource and source of export income and we must protect and promote it to assist our economic recovery and reduce the effect of the Covid-19 debt we now have.
My team and especially Dr Shane Reti Deputy Leader and our spokesperson for Health and I will be focussing on helping the Government to shore up their systems to protect our borders and our communities from Covid-19. I am concerned about the recent failures in isolation hotels that have led to NZ citizens becoming infected with the virus. The new Minister of Health and the Minister for Covid-19 really need to step up their efforts on protecting border staff, especially as this was one of the few election promises the Labour party made. It is vital for all New Zealanders’ wellbeing that border controls are strong and can be relied on to keep everyone safe.
As New Zealanders we must continue to be personally vigilant against the disease because the Government does not want to make anything compulsory. I support using the QR codes or otherwise signing in when you are entering public places like shops, offices and shopping centres. Although the current government is not saying it, I say wear a mask if you are on busy public transport or in very busy shops like supermarkets. Recent cases in the community show that people still visit their supermarket when they are sick. So wear a mask to stop the Covid-19 virus spreading.
I hope that the coming months will be prosperous and free of disruption for you and your families. Let’s hope we can enjoy a productive time as we enjoy the warmer weather and the run up to Christmas. I hope to see you in Papakura at the annual Christmas Parade on Sunday 6 December that Rotary and the Town Centre are hosting. All are welcome.
Thank you again for your wonderful support for me and for the whole Papakura community during this challenging year of 2020.
Season’s Greetings and happy holidays.