Clare Thinking: March 2013
March 28, 2013
MARCH ISSUE
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Carisbrook
School building work ALL GO
I recently visited Carisbrook
School to take a look at the progress being made following
the merger of the three schools, Carisbrook, College St &
Calton Hill in 2012.
The new Carisbrook Main site will be
ready to take in all of the Terraces site children by the
start of 2014. At present the site has the full year 7 & 8
group on site and the existing year 1 - 6.
The big
question now is the future of Carisbrook Heights? Having a
school up on the Corstorphine/Calton heights hill is very
important and I will be watching with interest what the
Ministry of Education choose to do. I have asked the
Minister for her views and I will be supporting the
principal and Board of Carisbrook as much as I can through
this process.
Postal Service changes a real
concern
N.Z. Post’s plan to reduce postal services
within New Zealand could be a huge blow for rural New
Zealand. The visit from the Rural Delivery Contractor is an
essential link to the outside world for many rural
residents. In my constituency this is a big concern as so
much of the area is rural. Middlemarch & Taieri farmers are
so very dependant on the Rural Mail services. Supporting
the continuation of these services is important.
Solid Energy
One of my tasks in Parliament is to be
part of a Select Committee where politicians from across the
House work on the finer details of legislation as well as
holding government departments and state owned enterprises
to account for their financial reports. As a member of the
Commerce Select committee I have recently been involved in
the financial review of Solid Energy, the state owned energy
company who have just reported a debt of $389 million as a
result of the drop in coal prices and pressure to return a
higher dividend to the Government.
The woes of Solid Energy are a perfect example of why state assets such as the power companies should not be sold into private ownership. Electricity production is a core part of our nation’s infrastructure however they are just as vulnerable to mismanagement and bad investments as other enterprises. This governments economic mismanagement may have driven solid energy into the ground but imagine what can happen when the only incentive is to return higher dividends to shareholders as opposed to the state?
Labour has been a core part
of the Keep Our Assets coalition and last week the many
volunteers hard work culminated in the presentation of
between 390,000-400,000 signatures to the Office of the
Clerk calling for a referendum on the governments asset
sales program. Voters from across the spectrum have
expressed their concerns about the mixed-ownership model
proposal to me throughout the Keep Our Assets campaign and
deserve to have their voices heard by the
government.
Synthetic Cannabis in our community
This
issue has been highlighted in the last 6 weeks with visits
to schools and speaking to community leaders. Clare Curran's
opinion piece was published on Friday 15th March. Take a
look at ... http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/249488/challenge-dairies-selling-highs
Youth Parliament Entries
We had 2 very capable young
woman as finalists in the Dunedin South Youth Parliament
competition. Congratulations to Kate Gardner from Bayfield
High School and Nuvindi Basnayake from Queens High School
for their high class entries and speeches. The winner was
Kate Gardner who will now represent me at Parliament in
Wellington on 16th & 17th July.
Social Services Dunedin
Meeting
Jacinda Ardern who holds the Labour Party Social
Services and Children portfolios, visited Dunedin on March
14 to speak at a Social Services meeting run by my office.
David Clark and I hosted Jacinda and then later that day we
hosted David Shearer, who attended the ID Fashion Emerging
Designers Awards.
David Shearer at ID Fashion
David
Shearer's first ID Fashion Show & the firsttime a political
party leader has attended an ID fashion event.....It was a
great night and I encourage you to keep supporting this
event and what it brings to Dunedin.
MAORI ROLL OR
GENERAL ROLL?
It's your choice. He aha ō
whakaaro?
I really recommend you think about this
option and make the decision as to which Roll you should be
on.
It is your choice what type of
electoral roll you're on: Māori or
General.
This year, all Māori aged 18 or over
get to choose which roll tupe to be on.
If you are
already enrolled to vote, you'll be sent a pack in the mail
in late March. It'll give you the information you need to
make your choice.
If you don't get a pack, or you need to
enrol, then
Go online at elections.org.nz
or
Freetext your name and address to
3676 or
Call 0800 36 76 56
or
Enrol at any
PostShop
OR PICK UP A PAMPHLET FROM OUR
OFFICE
CREATING A BOLD NEW FUTURE
IN SOUTH DUNEDIN facilitated by Chris Le
Breton
SUNDAY 14TH April 2013
9.30am - 5.30pm Community Hall, 253 King Edward St, South
Dunedin
(Free for South Dunedin
Residents)
Explore a new global vision
of Sustainability, Spirtual Fulfillment and Social
Justice
Focus on South Dunedin - the
challenges and the opportunities - to make it a thriving,
resilient, healthy, holistic
community
Contact Chris to register:
lebreton1@gmail.com 022 689
7107
AGENTS OF CHANGE Workshop
facilitated by Chris Le Breton
SATURDAY
20th April 2013 9.30am - 5.30pm Community Hall,
253 King Edward St, South
Dunedin
Bathgate School, Macandrew Rd,
South Dunedin
(Free for South Dunedin
Residents)
This is an interactive,
transformational workshop designed to deepen our
understanding of what it means to be an Agent of Change, and
to empower our capacity to address humanity's most pressing
issues.
Contact Chris to register:
lebreton1@gmail.com 022 689
7107
CURTAIN
BANK
What is a Curtain
Bank?
The Dunedin Curtain Bank is a not for
profit organization set up to collect curtains, repair,
reline and
wash them then distribute them to those in
need (low income households, families, elderly,
disabled,
immigrants and others in need).
Curtains provide a low
cost and effective insulation for
windows (which lose the
most heat in a house, even double glazed windows). Curtains
make a
home cheaper and easier to heat, while also
providing privacy, improved ambiance and most
importantly
of all health benefits.
Why
We Need You?
The role of partner agencies is a
key part of the curtain recycling service. We rely on our
partner
agencies in the community to identify people in
need of curtains. In some cases, an agency or
business is
willing to be a drop off point for donors unable to drop
their curtains at the Curtain Bank
itself.
Agencies
will be supplied with all information referral forms and
vouchers to help the client and us identify what is
needed.
How to Be Involved
If
you are interested in being a referral agency for the
Dunedin Curtain Bank or just wish to be kept
abreast of
what we are up to please contact us, preferably by email,
and let us know.
Contact : curtainbank@gmail.com
STAFF TRAINING
Our office
will be closed for Easter and staff training from 29 March
to 5th April. Reopening again 8th
April.
If you need to contact us: please
phone 4555-299 and leave a
message.