"Buy Kiwi Made or Bye Kiwi Made"

Judith Bell Urges MPs to get in behind the Buy Kiwi Made Campaign

Judith Bell sent this letter to Prime Minister Helen Clark, Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard and Treasurer Michael Cullen last Thursday, plus a similar letter was sent to the National Party and NZ First Caucus. Ms Bell attended this promo on the ground floor of the Beehive on the 8th November 2006 and used her own money to do so - as did thirty other New Zealand manufacturers who exhibited their products. Apart from the Green MPs, four out of the remaining 115 MPs attended - one of whom had a personal vested interest in one of the exhibiting companies. The abysmal turn out did not go unnoticed by the exhibitors. Judith Bell Author of "I See Red" published by Awa Press www.awapress.co.nz

Dear Ms Clark

It is a great shame that neither yourself, nor Finance Minister Michael
Cullen nor the Minister for Economic Development Trevor Mallard attended the
Kiwi Made parliamentary promotion yesterday. I understand from your events
secretary Ms Sandy Thambiah that you personally did not receive an
invitation but I believe that even without an invitation you would have been
a welcome attendee - even if it meant giving up five minutes of your time.

Contrary to Ms Thambiahs opinion and given that NZ manufacturers contribute
$35 million each week (or $1.8 billion per annum) in PAYE taxes via their
workers - taxes upon which yours and our elected representatives wages and
spending programmes depend - I do not believe the government was well
represented at this event.

However those New Zealand manufacturers who did attend this event and did so
at their own expense, are resilient types who have survived the last twenty
years of "free trade", in spite of - and not because of - policies embarked
upon by our elected representatives.

Notwithstanding this, we appreciate the successful lobbying by the Green
Party for the long overdue taxpayer funded Buy Kiwi Made campaign, but due
to the recent furore over your publicly stated preference to include Kiwi
designed but Chinese made products in the campaign, followed by Trevor
Mallards feint support for the campaign after it was decided to exclude
Chinese made products, followed further by the absence of key Labour
Ministers at the parliamentary Kiwi Made promotion yesterday - New Zealand
manufacturers and the general public could be forgiven for perceiving a lack
of support for the Buy Kiwi Made campaign on behalf of the government and
in particular yourself and the Labour Party.

As leader of this nation, many New Zealanders look to you for direction.
Accordingly your whole-hearted endorsement of the Buy Kiwi Made campaign and
the jobs it can protect and produce, is essential.

I believe you need to address this - preferably before the 20th of this
month when our next PAYE payments are due.

Yours sincerely
Judith Bell
Manufacturer
Author of "I See Red" published by Awa Press.
Po Box 4580
Mt Maunganui

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