Hon Simon Bridges
Associate Minister of Transport
15 December 2012 Media Statement

Folau Malu event spreads boating safety messages

The Government is working hard across the board to promote and improve water safety, Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges said today at the Folau Malu event at Auckland’s Mangere Bridge.

Folau Malu translates to “journey safely”, and is aimed at promoting safe boating to the Pacific community.

“The Folau Malu Project has been allocated $10,000 by Maritime New Zealand. This funding, alongside $20,000 for the Water Safety New Zealand Pacific programme and $20,000 for the Maritime New Zealand national recreational boating campaign, will help deliver boat safety messages to Pacific and Maori communities.”

Maritime New Zealand has also been granted funding from fuel excise duty, which will be used for national recreational boating safety campaigns to lower the fatality and injury rates across New Zealand, as well as encouraging safe boating behaviour.

“The deaths of a father and son at Mangere Bridge in May this year, as well as the drowning of two men off Waiheke Island last month, shows there is more work to be done to ensure the safe boating message gets through, particularly in the Pacific community.”

To assist with this, Maritime New Zealand is reintroducing the “Don’t Be A Clown” summer lifejacket campaign, which started this week. These ads, combined with other initiatives planned for the summer period, will continue to spread the safety message.

ENDS

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