Key Notes No.52

TRANSFORMING TAMAKI

I had a great time yesterday visiting the Tamaki Transformation Programme in Auckland and meeting pupils from Pt England School.

The Programme is a partnership between the Tamaki community, government departments, and local government aimed at revitalising housing and local infrastructure, and helping the community develop its own future.

The children interviewed me for the Pt England News Network which broadcasts via Triangle Television. They asked some tricky questions about the local pool, places to play, and how I can help make them smarter. They also invited me to visit their school so I'm looking forward to heading back to Tamaki sometime in the future.

CONSULTING AUCKLANDERS
I'm pleased to see so many Aucklanders having a say and making submissions on the first stage of the proposed changes to local government in the region. The select committee received nearly 2500 submissions.

About 780 oral submissions will be heard from 6 July in Auckland, with the committee meeting from 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday to hear everyone.
We want to make sure that everybody who wants to be heard after making a written submission can present to the committee as part of an inclusive process. There will be more public consultation through the next stages as we work with Aucklanders to make their city even better.

MAKING THE MOST OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURE
Yesterday I spoke to the Federated Farmers Annual Conference about the opportunities and challenges our agricultural industries face and some of the major initiatives the government has announced in recent months, including:

- The Primary Growth Partnership - an ambitious public-private partnership that will see up to $140 million a year invested in research and development on and off the farm.
- The Centre for Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research - a research centre that will develop technologies to reduce agricultural emissions and improve productivity.
- The Land and Water Forum - major water users in agriculture, industry, power generation, and recreation and environment groups helping to set the direction of water reform.

IMPROVING HEALTHCARE
This week the Government announced changes to how District Health Boards can work with private health providers.

We want DHBs to be free to use the private sector to complement the services they provide to patients - in areas such as elective surgery - provided that they don't undermine those services, that they spend public money responsibly, and they don't cross-subsidise private providers.

Previously, DHBs were allowed to use the private sector to provide services but only as a last resort. This often meant that services were organised on short notice and were much more expensive than they needed to be. By giving DHBs more flexibility, we can make smarter use of the private sector and get better value for your tax dollars.

BOOSTING TOURISM
I had a great time in Queenstown last Friday officially opening the Winter Festival. It was a beautiful crisp and cold winter night, and it was fantastic to see so many people out and about rugged up and having fun.

While I was there I announced that the Government is providing $1 million to help support the inaugural Winter Games. The Games will be the largest winter sports event in the Southern Hemisphere, and will be held at several spots around Otago in August. It's basically a warm-up for the Winter Olympics and I hope it becomes a regular event. We're keen to attract and develop world class events, and this is a great example of an exciting, home-grown event with huge potential.

There was more good news for tourism last week. The number of visitors from across the Tasman over the last year cracked the 1 million mark for the first time. In March I announced an immediate $2.5 million boost for tourism marketing in Australia and this is already paying off for tourism operators around the country.

FROM MY DIARY
It was great to welcome students from Gisborne Boys High School to my office on Tuesday.

I had fun at the opening ceremony of the FIBA U19 Basketball Championship at the North Shore events Centre last night. The Junior Tall Blacks came really close to winning against Argentina in their first ever game at the tournament.
Yesterday I sent a message to Team Think, a group of Lincoln University students competing at the Microsoft Imagine Cup in Cairo. The Team is presenting LearnIT - a very impressive software idea they have developed for reading and writing. Good luck guys!

Today I'm in Timaru to open the gymnasium at Timaru Boys High School, visit Highfield School, and catch up with the good people at South Canterbury Hospice.
Next week I'm leading a goodwill trip to Samoa, Tonga, Nuie, and the Cook Islands.

Best wishes,

John Key
Prime Minister

Super-Wards: Commission Proposes New Boundaries For Auckland

The Local Government Commission presented its proposals on the boundaries and representation arrangements for the new Auckland Council today.

Under the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, the Commission is required to determine boundaries for the new Auckland Council, wards and local boards, ward and board names and the number of members per local board. More>>