New food safety regulations under the Food Act 2014 will allow businesses to keep their costs down by managing food safety well says Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew.
“These new regulations are designed to help businesses as well as consumers,” says Mrs Goodhew. “It will help us keep pace with changes in science and technology, and bring efficiencies for business.”
Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew has welcomed today’s release of the final report of the Dairy Capability Working Group.
“The Working Group found the food safety capability of New Zealand’s dairy sector is in good shape,” says Mrs Goodhew. “Looking forward, to maintain our reputation as a world class provider of safe and suitable food we now need to anticipate the changing face of food safety.
Associate Social Development Minister Jo Goodhew is congratulating the 63,728 tertiary students who have applied for their 2016 Student Loans and Allowances.
“Peak season used to result in lengthy application hold up’s for students,” Mrs Goodhew says. “But the process is now much faster thanks to StudyLink’s improved services, a better online application system and students applying earlier.”
Ten community groups will receive the services of a skilled professional free of charge for up to a year, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew announced today.
The internships, together worth more than $230,000, will be funded from the Community Internship Programme.
For International Volunteer Day this Saturday, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew is encouraging New Zealanders to consider how they too can contribute to their local community.
“This Saturday is a time to recognise the impact of volunteers – who generously provide their time, skills, energy and commitment to our communities,” says Mrs Goodhew.
Today’s announcement of the start of a review of the NZ ETS brings an opportunity to consider how New Zealand can further incentivise the planting of more forests, says Associate Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew.
“Forestry is one of New Zealand’s largest and cheapest forms of carbon storage,” says Mrs Goodhew. “It is critical that foresters engage in the review so that together we can develop policy proposals that are in the best interests of the scheme and the sector.”
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew has announced six appointments to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Board.
The Board distributes around 25 fellowships each year to New Zealanders travelling overseas to research topics that will contribute to their profession and the wider community.
“I am delighted at the diverse knowledge and expertise of each new member,” says Mrs Goodhew. “Their skills will be complementary and valuable to the current board.”
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew today announced the names of 17 people who have been awarded a prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship for 2016.
“The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowships, this year totalling almost $118,000, help New Zealanders travel overseas to study issues that will enrich their profession and, ultimately, benefit New Zealand as a whole,” says Mrs Goodhew.
The forestry industry has become the sixth industry group to join the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) biosecurity partnership, Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew have announced today.
“It’s great to have the New Zealand Forest Owners Association (FOA) onboard, working with the Ministry for Primary Industries to manage and respond to the most important biosecurity risks,” says Mr Guy.
“A growing number of industries have now signed up to work together with the Government through the GIA.”
Tomorrow is International Volunteer Managers’ Day, a time to recognise and thank the work of New Zealand’s volunteer managers says Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew.
“Volunteer managers are the leaders of the sector, ensuring volunteers’ skills and expertise are used to their greatest advantage, and that volunteers are well-supported,” says Mrs Goodhew.
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Hon Jo Goodhew has welcomed today’s announcement by the Ākina Foundation that New Zealand will host the Social Enterprise World Forum in 2017.
“Social enterprises are organisations that use commercial models to generate income for social or environmental goals,” says Mrs Goodhew.
“By combining social goals and business methods, social enterprise has the potential to play a significant role in economic development, and innovative business that supports the social sector.
Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew welcomes the latest figures showing more than 600 products with Health Star Ratings are on supermarket shelves.
“Over half the products on shelves with the Health Star Rating labels are supermarket own brand products, which shows strong support from both manufacturers and retailers for this labelling system,” says Mrs Goodhew.
“This initiative is one of the ways we are working with the food industry to improve food labelling and make healthy choices easier for consumers.
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew is pleased that 99% of the 2,500 charities that provide housing or accommodation, have had their charitable status confirmed.
The He Korowai Trust and twelve Habitat for Humanity charities are the most recent to have their status confirmed by the independent Charities Registration Board. Charities Services has closed its reviews into these charities’ housing activities.
Associate Social Development Minister Jo Goodhew is urging students to apply for their 2016 student loans and allowances by 16 December.
“We are expecting over 200,000 applications for the 2016 academic year,” says Mrs Goodhew. “The best way students can make their enrolment as smooth as possible is by applying by the 16 December target date.”
“By applying before 16 December, students will allow enough time for all the steps in the application process to be completed before courses start.”
Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew welcomes the decision by New Zealand Beverage Council (NZBC) to adopt the Health Star Ratings (HSR) on nearly all non-alcoholic beverages.
The NZBC, which produces 95 per cent of all juice and non-alcoholic beverages in New Zealand, has unanimously agreed to phase in the rating system.
“The HSR is a great way to help consumers make healthier choices quickly and easily when comparing similar packaged foods by taking the guesswork out of reading food and beverage labels,” says Mrs Goodhew.
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew is pleased to announce the outcome of the Community Development Scheme funding round for 2015/16.
“Twelve communities throughout New Zealand will receive $80,000 each year for three years from the Scheme for their community projects,” says Mrs Goodhew.
“Each of these communities are facing different challenges they want to overcome for their local population.
A demonstration of new forest harvesting technology near Nelson today marks a major step forward in ensuring the safety of forest workers working on steep land, Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew say.
The demonstration featured New Zealand’s first ever remote controlled forest harvesting machine.
“This ground breaking technology, developed by the Steepland Harvesting Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme, is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and we believe a world first for a tracked excavator-based felling machine,” says Mr Guy.
Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew launched an online tool today that will help food businesses discover how they will be affected by the new Food Act 2014, which comes into force in March next year.
“Under the new Food Act there will be different rules for different businesses, depending on what they make or sell, and to who,” says Mrs Goodhew.
“We’ve created this online tool so that anyone providing or selling food can easily find out how the new food safety rules apply to them.”
The first funding round of the Afforestation Grant Scheme will see 5819 hectares planted throughout New Zealand, says Associate Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew.
The Afforestation Grant Scheme is a $22.5m programme to help establish about 15,000 hectares of new forest plantations over the next six years.
“Under the first round of funding the total area applied for covered 9044 hectares, far exceeding our expectations,” says Mrs Goodhew.
Associate Minister for Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew leaves for South Africa today to attend the XIV World Forestry Congress.
Held once every six years, it is an opportunity to engage with international forestry leaders and delegations on a range of forestry issues.
Mrs Goodhew will also launch New Zealand’s Third Country Report on the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators, which demonstrates New Zealand’s sustainable management of natural and planted forests to the international forestry community.
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew is encouraging New Zealanders to support International Day of Charity tomorrow by looking at the array of charitable opportunities available.
“New Zealanders are recognised for their generosity and volunteering ethic. On average there are just over 400,000 kiwis volunteering every week for a charity, giving over 1.5 million hours to our communities,” says Mrs Goodhew.
