Nikki Kaye

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 Auckland.

It was great to be a part of the official opening of the new Kingsland Cycleway with Hon Steven Joyce. I’m sure you are all well aware of my enthusiasm for cycling by now and this was a great little win for Auckland.

This cycleway offers a new safer cycling route, with scenic moments as well as a quicker way to work alongside the NorthWestern Motorway. I am continuing my involvement in the cycleway projects around Auckland and look forward to being part of more projects in the future.

I attended the opening of Pasifika and was there on Saturday 13 March with the Prime Minister and a number of National MP’s.

Pasifika was jam packed with thousands of Aucklanders sampling our rich pacific culture.

We were very fortunate to be hosted by a number of island nations including the small nation of Tuvalu who gave a wonderful performance with some colourful costumes.

Our group also got into the mood of festival by dancing on one of the stages, I hope there is no footage of this. I ended my visit to Pasifika with a beautiful mussel fritter.

Pasifika is a wonderful celebration of our Pacific people and heritage.

In December I attended the opening of the relocated GBI Community Heritage and Arts Village and its Aotea Community Gallery in Claris. It was a great day and another good opportunity for me to meet and talk to stake holders in the Arts community.

I visited the Grey Lynn Community Library today to fill the big shoes as a ‘Special Guest reader’. It was an incredible amount of fun seeing the joy in the young childrens faces as I read stories of “Ka Pai the Kiwi” and danced the Caterpillar dance.

It also provided a great opportunity to meet and talk to some of the young mums in my electorate, as well as the Library staff.

Fellow MP Hekia Parata and I hosted a ‘Ladies Lunch’ on Monday as an opportunity to brief key Business and women involved in community organisations on hot political topics. Hekia gave an amazing speech that included her journey to becoming a Member of Parliament. Hekia is someone that I admire and I am sure has a huge future in politics. We covered a number of issues such as Auckland Local Governance and Education.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many smart women interested and enthusiastic about doing what they can to contribute to NZ.

I attended the re-opening of St Patricks Square on the 17th of this month. It was a great day for residents and people who work in the CBD. The square is a great space for Aucklanders in the CBD.
I went for a tour and was in awe of the history and heritage of St Patricks Cathedral.

On Saturday I completed the 41km Great Barrier Wharf to Wharf race. I handed over $800, raised for Kaitoke school kids.

The race was the toughest run I think that I have ever done. The forest road track was a bit of a mud bath in parts and included a lot of hills steadily increasing upwards for 13 km. It is a stunning course though, and there were a few moments where I just stopped and took in the view. The Medlands hill and the final one before Tryphena were long and hard, as was the remaining 5km which was a series of hills before Shoal Bay and the wharf.

It was a massive effort by so many Barrier locals to make the event happen. For a small community they have a lot of heart and an event like this brings in extra funds to the community at the end of a long winter.

They did a great job and I look forward to doing what I can to make the event even more successful next year.

I hit the streets of Downtown Auckland on Friday as part of the Arthritis Orange Appeal Week. I joined the street appeal and donned the orange vest in a quest to raise funds for those New Zealanders suffering from Arthritis.

I was outside the Downtown Westfield at the bottom of Queen Street, alongside my fellow fundraiser, Margaret (pictured) from Waiheke. Margaret was a real sweety as were the other people there helping out.

Over half a million New Zealanders will be affected by Arthritis in their lifetimes so it is a hugely worthwhile cause and it was very special to be a part of the appeal campaign.

I attended Auckland Zoo on the 13th to take part in celebrating the arrival of the super celebrity Kakapo – Sirocco. Associate Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson gave a superb speech and mentioned her meeting with Sirocco’s sister Hoki on Codfish Island.

There are now 124 Kakapo in NZ as a result of a very succesful breeding program. Join Sirocco’s facebook page here