Collins Comments - ANZAC Day
29 April 2011
Collins Comments
This week it was great to see locals, both young and old, turn out to commemorate our fallen soldiers at Papakura’s RSA and Civic ANZAC Day services.
Pride and respect for our ANZACs has always been strong in Papakura.
On behalf of the community, I’d like to acknowledge the terrific job the Papakura RSA does in keeping the spirit of our war dead and veterans alive.
ANZAC Day will always be a special day to honour all our nation’s servicemen and women and pay tribute to those Kiwis who are helping to build a better world today.
This year we acknowledge more than 400 New Zealand defence personnel who are deployed on 14 peacekeeping operations, United Nations missions and defence exercises around the world.
We hold these servicemen and
women and their families in our thoughts, and look forward
to their safe return home.
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It was a privilege to
join Papakura’s Community Safety Patrol last week
to celebrate the success of our local patrol volunteers.
These volunteers do a terrific job serving as extra eyes and
ears for the district’s Police. I especially congratulate
Mr Derek
Richardson who received a life time membership
plaque to Community Patrols New Zealand. Derek has served
in the patrol for the past eight years and continues to give
generously of his time to patrol Papakura and train new
volunteers.
I’m pleased to say the opening of a new kindergarten in our district means there are now fifty extra early childhood education places in Counties-Manukau. The Early Learning Counties-Manukau Alfriston Service was built with $1.3 million of Government funding to give youngsters, especially Maori and Pasifika children, the best possible start to their learning.
I enjoyed sharing my
experience of Parliament with students from Papakura High
School this month during their visit to the
Beehive. It was great to see so many familiar faces and
hear some refreshing perspectives on politics from our
district’s young people.
Hon Judith
Collins
MP for
Papakura
ENDS