Hon Jo Goodhew, MP for Rangitata
Busy Fortnight in the Electorate

No two weeks, and frequently no two days, are the same in the life of an MP.

Last week and this week are recess weeks when Parliament does not sit. Recess weeks frequently give me the opportunity for some concentrated time in the electorate. I thought I’d tell you about one busy day during recess.

Last Thursday I worked in the Ashburton end of the Rangitata Electorate. My day started with pre-recording my weekly radio talkback with Josh from Classic Hits in Timaru.

Each week the content of the call is different. Last week we discussed free GP visits for under 13 year olds which were announced in Budget 2015 and began on July 1st. We also discussed the stunning win of the ANZ Young Farmer of the Year title by local young farmer Matt Bell.

First stop in Ashburton was Safer Ashburton’s SEEDs programme shoestring cook-off challenge at the Tinwald School Hall. What a great event.

The challenge was to prepare a meal for two adults and two children from a food parcel.

My fellow contestants, Hoops from Hokonui Radio, Jackie Girvan from Presbyterian Support and Mayor Angus McKay and I were all quickly into the spirit of the challenge and busy putting together savoury mince dishes, potatoes and desserts.

The event was well attended and a great success and may well be held annually.

Next stop was a brief lunch meeting with Business Mid Canterbury board members who brought me up to date on current business issues in the Ashburton District.

My day was rounded off with a very robust and well attended Seniors’ Forum. I host a number of these events throughout the electorate each year, inviting a randomly selected group of older residents to meet with me over a cup of tea to discuss whatever they want.

Last week’s function was the largest I have hosted with 60 people attending. I usually kick the functions off with a description of my role as MP, my Ministerial commitments, how my weeks are spent and how my offices work. Then it’s open to the floor.

Topics covered last week included the milk price, the potential for a passenger rail link between Ashburton and Christchurch, crime numbers and the police’s ability to solve crime, changes to the Worksafe legislation and how they may affect small holding owners and volunteers, National Animal Identification & Tracing (NAIT), domestic violence, youth work and changes made to the welfare system over recent times.

I find no two of the meetings are the same. The topics are always diverse, interesting and topical. If you get an invitation, come along! This week I am hosting a forum in Pleasant Point.

My day concluded with the drive to Christchurch and flight to Wellington to undertake Ministerial duties the next day.

Changes to tenancy laws

New legislation is to be introduced which will require landlords to retrofit ceiling and underfloor insulation and smoke alarms in rental homes over the next four years.

The new requirements will apply from 1 July 2016 for social housing that is heavily subsidised by Government, and from 1 July 2019 for other rental housing, including boarding houses. There will be exemptions, such as where it is physically impractical to retrofit insulation due to limited space underfloor or inaccessible raked ceilings.

This pragmatic package of tenancy law changes will make homes warmer, drier and safer for hundreds of thousands of New Zealand families without imposing excessive bureaucracy or cost.

There will also be a new requirement from 1 July 2016 for all landlords to state in tenancy agreements the level of ceiling, underfloor and wall insulation to help better inform tenants. These new insulation requirements in our tenancy laws are the logical next step following our programme to retrofit insulation in 53,000 state houses and the 280,000 grants from the Warm Up New Zealand scheme.

Smoke alarms will also be required in all tenanted properties from 1 July 2016. Regulations will make landlords responsible for ensuring an operational smoke alarm is in place, and tenants responsible for replacing batteries or notifying landlords of defects. Long life (10-year) photoelectric alarms will be required where there is no existing alarm or when replacing an existing alarm.

These reforms will require 180,000 homes to be insulated and the 120,000 homes currently without smoke alarms to have them installed. The health benefits of this will be reduced hospitalisations from circulatory and respiratory illnesses, reduced pharmaceutical costs, and fewer days off work and school. The smoke alarms are expected to save three lives per year.

Better results from public services

Rangitata people care about the quality of Government services delivered in our community.

Constituents tell me they want to know children are achieving at school. They want to see the Government tackling crime and looking after the vulnerable in our community. They care that our health system treats patients promptly and effectively.

Those same people are also taxpayers. They want to know that the public sector is spending money carefully and on services that make a difference.

Three years ago the Prime Minister set 10 challenging targets for the public service to achieve over the next few years.

These targets are focussed on complex issues such as welfare dependency, crime, child abuse, and educational achievement. Some of these are extremely difficult targets but we believe in challenging our public services to get better results from the more than $70 billion we spend each year.

So far we are tracking well. We have more young people achieving higher qualifications, welfare dependency has fallen, and Kiwis are doing more of their government transactions online.

Here in Rangitata we have seen total crime drop by 11.3 per cent last year, ultra-fast broadband rollouts are complete in both Ashburton and Timaru and there have been significant drops in students being suspended, stood down, excluded or expelled from school.

National is achieving record results in health. Since the targets were introduced the proportion of immunised 8-month olds has increased from 84 per cent to 92.9 per cent and there has been a 14 per cent drop in people being hospitalised for the first time with rheumatic fever.

We’ve also boosted elective operations, reduced waiting times for cancer treatment and emergency care, and put more doctors and nurses on the frontline.

We want all children to leave school with the skills they need to reach their potential in the modern economy. This approach is working with all three education Better Public Service targets showing meaningful progress over the last three years.

We also want New Zealanders to feel safe. Since June 2011 total crime, violent crime and youth crime have dropped 17.6 per cent, 9.1 per cent and 37.3 per cent respectively – with the rate of reoffending dropping by 9.6 per cent.

While progress is being made across all targets, some are harder to achieve than others.

For example, the previously increasing trend for assaults on children has been successfully flattened, but more needs to be done to see it reduce.

Our challenge is to keep progressing. There’s still a lot of work to do and National will continue to focus on the things that matter to New Zealanders.

It’s all part of our plan to build a brighter future and deliver better results for families.

Upcoming Events

July 16 – constituency work Ashburton & Timaru
July 17 – Host seniors’ forum, Pleasant Point
July 18 – Ministerial visit to drought-affected North Canterbury
July 19 – attend Christchurch Baby & Child Show
July 21 – 23 – Parliament sitting
July 24 – 26 – attend National Party conference, Auckland
July 26 – 31 – Ministerial visit to Vietnam

Regards,

Jo Goodhew

ENDS

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