Nikki’s News - May 2010
The Schedule Four Stocktake had a deadline for submissions of Tuesday 4th May, that has been extended with Submissions now due by 5.00pm Wednesday 26 May 2010. You can have your say by clicking the link on my website here.
I attended the opening of the Anne Frank travelling exhibition in
Chris Finlayson opened the exhibition and spoke of the struggle and persecution that still exists for some Jewish people today. Being reminded that 1.5 million children died in the Holocaust and of Anne’s story was sobering.
This exhibition has been brought to
The evening made me remember Anne Frank’s diaries and the extraordinary wisdom and courage that came through in her writing from someone so young. Below are two of my favourite quotes:
"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart"
"The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands."
Visit to the Community of Refuge Trust
I was delighted to be able to visit the Community of Refuge Trust CEO Peter Jeffries to inform him of the great news that the Government would be assisting with a $1 million housing fund for the Trust.
The Trust is based at the Ponsonby Rd Baptist Chapel, and aims to provide permanent, stable housing and ongoing support for some our most at risk individuals and families.
This is an important Government partnership with the Trust, who are so deserving of this funding for their continuous hard work and commitment.
I recognise the hard work and fantastic service that the Community of Refuge Trust has been providing for the past 25 years, and I have a personal long term goal to continue to improve housing availability and to make sure that all these charitable partners have the support they need to improve life and communities within
ANZAC Day Service
I attended two services on ANZAC Day, the dawn service on
The dawn service on Waiheke was moving, with the main service taking place later at 11am. It was a very special time to remember and honour the sacrifices that young Kiwis and Australians made when they landed at Gallipoli 95 years ago.
It was a privilege to speak at the service at the Grey Lynn Returned Services Club, I was very impressed with the number of young people who had turned out.
I spoke about the ongoing service of some of the clubs members, and also the support of the community for the club. It is an honour to be a member of the Grey Lynn RSC, and to take part on ANZAC Day to acknowledge all New Zealanders who have served, and are serving in our defence forces, around the world.
Youth Parliament 2010
Congratulations Danielle Maclean!
Youth Parliament is held once every Parliamentary term and provides young New Zealanders with the opportunity to learn about our democracy and influence public decision-making.
I decided to run my selection process for my youth MP by asking for nominations from my local secondary schools and colleges. Each of the nominated candidates provided an essay and was interviewed by a panel that included Hamish Keith OBE, a recognised Arts and Social commentator, and Donna White, Design Institute NZ, who were able to provide a cultural and business perspective to the selection. After lengthy deliberations we decided to nominate Danielle Maclean, a student at St Mary’s College.
It was a competitive process but Danielle impressed us with her achievements, communication skills and general commitment to helping people.
She is passionate about youth issues and politics, and was genuinely interested in learning more about the Parliamentary process.
The focus of Danielle’s time at Youth Parliament will be working with her fellow Youth MPs to develop a submission on a piece of legislation. The 2010 Youth Parliament Bill will focus on creating an age of majority bill, or a bill that considers creating a single age for different activities to become lawful such as drinking, driving, and voting. During the two days Danielle will participate in the entire Parliamentary process, meaning she will get to take part in question time, and each of the different stages of the Select Committee process.
This year, Youth Parliament is taking place 6 – 7 July, and on completion, all of the Youth MPs will continue to support the consultation activities of the Ministry of Youth Development for six months.
Government Initiatives
Below are some recent Government announcements:
Unemployment Drops
.
. This is the first decrease in the unemployment rate since the December 2007.
. The number of people unemployed dropped by 25,000 during the quarter, while the number of people employed grew by 22,000. This compositional change in the labour force resulted in a sharp fall in the unemployment rate.
. Employment rose for both men and women, primarily driven by a rise in full-time employment for men (up by 19,000).
. In line with the rise in employment, actual hours worked increased by 1.7 percent.
The Government is increasing the excise tax on tobacco to reduce smoking, dissuade young people from starting to smoke, and improve the health of New Zealanders.
Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death in
The excise on cigarettes will rise immediately by 10% and will increase by a further 10% next January and a third increase of 10% will take place in January 2012.
The excise on loose tobacco will rise even higher, up by 24% immediately followed by the same 10% increases in 2011 and 2012 as for cigarettes.
Impact on Prices
These changes are expected to push the price of a $10.30 pack of twenty cigarettes up nearly a dollar to $11.20 now and by a further $2 to $13.20 by January 2012 – a 28% rise in total.
They will also lift the price of a $21.30 pouch of roll your own tobacco to about $25.50 now and up to $29.80 in 2012 – a 40% increase overall.
Facts and Figures
In just 10 years the Government expects there will be 300 fewer premature deaths a year as result of the tobacco excise increase, rising to 500 fewer deaths a year by 2031.
This will result in an estimated 40,000 fewer smokers in 2021 – equivalent to the population of a city the size of Whanganui. That figure will rise to an estimated 80,000 fewer smokers in 2031 – equivalent to a city the size of Palmerston North.
Quitting completely would save an average smoker around $2100 a year now increasing to around $2700 in three years time.
Currently over 4,500 New Zealanders a year die prematurely from illness caused by smoking.
Results released earlier in April from the 2009 Tobacco Use Survey show the current smoking rate for New Zealanders aged between 15 and 64 is 21.8%, down 2.1% from the 2008 rate of 23.9%.
Quitting Programmes
The Government already has programmes in place to provide support for smokers to quit.
The Government has been ramping up support for smokers to quit in advance of these excise increases.
Quitline 0800 778 778 offers free telephone support, resources and access to low cost nicotine patches, gum and lozenges to New Zealand residents.
Budget 2010
Last year, we faced the worst economic downturn in decades. National took steps to support jobs and families, and to create an environment that gives businesses the confidence to keep staff on and create new jobs.
We also worked hard to get spending under control and put the government’s books in order. We turned around a 10-year forecast of ballooning public debt that threatened our international credit ratings. Even so, the government is borrowing $240 million every week for the next four years.
This year, our focus has shifted to lifting
Budget 2010 on 20 May will have four main goals:
. Lifting the long-term performance of the economy to deliver jobs, higher incomes, and better living standards for Kiwi families.
. Reforming the tax system to make it fairer, more sustainable, and more supportive of economic growth.
. Better delivery of public services to meet New Zealanders’ expectations of modern public services, while recognising the ongoing pressures on taxpayers.
. Maintaining firm control of the government’s finances so we can return to Budget surpluses and pull back our rising debt.
In last year’s Budget we identified $2 billion of lower-priority public spending to move to frontline services over the following four years.
This year we have found another $1.8 billion of lower-priority spending. Over the next four years we will move this to higher-priority services. That’s a lot of money we are putting into important areas such as better healthcare, better education, and making our neighbourhoods safer.
We will keep weeding out lower-quality spending. We will also live within the $1.1 billion new spending allowance we set ourselves. From 2011, we will restrict increases in this allowance to 2 per cent a year.
This year’s Budget is about doing things better and smarter, after a decade where taxpayers’ dollars were spent too freely.
National is determined to lift
Investing in Families
Whānau Ora changes the way government agencies help families in need. It builds on families’ strengths so they can take ownership of their own needs. It focuses on families as a whole, rather than dealing with individuals and their problems.
Whānau Ora is recognisably Maori, but it will be available to all.
In Budget 2010, the National-led Government is investing $134.3m over four years in families through Whānau Ora. Our bottom lines are:
. Better results for all
. Value for taxpayer money
. Strong accountability in the way Whānau Ora is run
Key facts about Whānau Ora
Of the new money for Whānau Ora, $120 million is from funds set aside by the previous government for community-based services. The funding had not been previously allocated to any particular initiative or programme. We believe Whānau Ora is worthy of investment, so part of that money has been allocated to this new approach. The remaining $14.3 million is being funded through reprioritisation within Te Puni Kōkiri’s baseline.
Regional Leadership Groups will be established across 10 regions, and will have representatives of local agencies including Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Social Development and District Health Boards, along with community representatives appointed by the Minister responsible for Whānau Ora.
People who are experienced in delivering health and social services to those in need are examples of who can apply to be a Whānau Ora provider. They can act as a broker between a family and government agencies.
Whānau Ora providers will be held accountable for what they achieve with government funding, rather than just what they do. Where providers have existing contracts to deliver programmes and services, they will continue to be accountable for those contracts.
Families may hear about Whānau Ora in their community and decide to get in touch with the provider. Alternatively, they may be referred by a government agency such as Work and Income, or find their local medical centre has become a Whānau Ora provider.
Existing contracts will be integrated and reorganised into Whānau Ora contracts, allowing providers to focus on the whanau they work with, rather than on the compliance issues that come from having multiple government contracts.
A research, evaluation, and monitoring programme is being developed to provide concrete measures and a practical process for measuring and reporting achievement. Up to $20 million will be spent each year on researching, evaluating, and monitoring the implementation and results of Whānau Ora.
Projected timeline
From June 2010 The Whānau Ora Governance Group will take Expressions of Interest for the initial 20 providers.
Providers will be selected against specific criteria developed by the Governance Group, based on recommendations in the Whānau Ora Taskforce Report. Criteria may include providers who:
. Are delivering effective health and social services directly to whānau.
. Are effectively managing multiple contracts in the health and social services area.
. Have a demonstrable record of effective service delivery to whānau.
From September 2010 Government selects Whānau Ora providers.
From October 2010 Implementation of Whānau Ora through contracted providers begins.
Increase in Elective Surgery
Your health and the health of your family is important for National.
When people can’t get the surgery they need, life can be a lot harder, more painful, and uncomfortable. It can be difficult to do the simple things that we all take for granted. This is why we campaigned at the last election to provide more elective surgery.
We have kept our promise to you.
National has made better access to elective surgery one of our six priorities for District Health Boards. This is already making a big difference.
Last year, a total of 135,444 patients had elective surgery. This is 12,500 more patients than in 2008 – the largest annual increase in elective surgery in
As part of our plan to improve access to elective surgery we have given the go-ahead to four new operating theatres in
The separation of emergency surgery from planned surgery will give people greater certainty that they will not be bumped from hospital waiting lists. Work on these theatres has begun and they are expected to be running in mid 2011.
We are also promoting clinical leadership to further improve health services. We are working to make better use of the private sector to help public hospitals provide elective surgery and reduce waiting times. And we have introduced a graduate bonding scheme to keep more
Last year we expected 350 doctors, nurses, and midwives to apply for places in the scheme. We ended up welcoming 890. This year we expanded the scheme to include surgical nursing as a specialty.
Our aim is to treble elective surgery to an average increase of 4000 elective operations each year. We have easily exceeded this during our first year.
National’s focus to boost elective surgery will help improve the quality of life for people waiting for necessary operations. It’s an important part of our plan to deliver better, sooner, more convenient healthcare for all New Zealanders.
For all other news, photos and updates on my work around the electorate, keep an eye on my website www.nikkikaye.co.nz which is updated regularly.
My website is also an easy way to make contact with me. If you have any issues, let me know through the "Have Your Say" link on the homepage.
Best wishes,
