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Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett today opened Accessible Properties’ new community housing development in Johnsonville, furthering the Government’s commitment to providing better social housing for those in need.

Accessible Properties are a Community Housing Provider who manage close to 1000 housing units across New Zealand. Today’s event celebrated the completion of eight new units designed for tenants with social support need, and built with assistance from the Government’s Social Housing Fund.

State Services Minister Paula Bennett has welcomed the latest Kiwis Count survey results, showing the levels of trust and satisfaction New Zealanders have in the frontline public services they use continues to increase.

The State Services Commission’s annual Kiwis Count survey looks at trust based on experience and perception, and satisfaction in public services, and shows improvements in both measures this year compared to last year.     

State Services Minister Paula Bennett has welcomed today’s half-yearly capping report, showing the number of administrative roles in the core public service remain below the cap and are forecast to stay at that level.

“The cap on core administrative positions, introduced by the incoming National Government in 2008, has successfully reduced back office roles and freed up resources, meaning improved public services for New Zealanders,” says Mrs Bennett.

State Services Minister Paula Bennett has today released the draft Terms of Reference for the Government Inquiry into matters concerning the escape of Phillip John Smith / Traynor.

The draft Terms of Reference focus on:

Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett is impressed with Housing New Zealand’s progress in building, redeveloping and repairing properties in Christchurch following a visit to the city today.   

Before 2011, Housing New Zealand (HNZ) had more than 6,000 properties in Christchurch, and 95 per cent of these were damaged in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

“The scale of destruction resulted in large losses of homes in the region, skyrocketing demand and many families left in desperate situations,” says Mrs Bennett.

Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse say Indian nationals travelling to New Zealand on business will now find it easier and faster to get a visa.

Visitors travelling for recognised business events, like conferences, meetings or exhibitions, will now benefit from faster visa processing times and reduced paperwork requirements.

The new arrangements were formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Mumbai overnight between Immigration New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand and six approved travel agents.

A significant milestone in the Government’s commitment to the Christchurch rebuild has been achieved, says Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett.

Today marks the half-way point in a comprehensive repair of earthquake-damaged Housing New Zealand (HNZ) properties, with the 2500^th home repair completed ahead of schedule.  

“HNZ has undertaken a large scale repair and rebuild programme that when completed by the end of 2015 will see 5000 damaged homes repaired and 700 new homes built,” Mrs Bennett says. 

State Services Minister Paula Bennett is pleased to announce that today New Zealand formally became a member of the Open Government Partnership, with the publication of New Zealand’s Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan. 

The OGP was established in 2011 and is an international partnership of countries aiming to foster openness, transparency and accountability to their citizens.

“The OGP Action Plan, published today, outlines our commitment to the Partnership, and to ensuring open and transparent government,” Mrs Bennett says. 

Local Government Minister Paula Bennett has today launched the Rules Reduction initiative, opening the way for people to submit examples of property regulations and local rules that don’t make sense.

“People can now head to www.govt.nz/rulesreduction, to start telling us what bugs them when it comes to loopy rules and regulations,” says Mrs Bennett. 

Associate Finance Minister Paula Bennett leaves Monday for Beijing where she will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) annual meeting of Finance Ministers.

The meeting, on 22 October, will consider the current economic situation and outlook in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as discussing co-operation on infrastructure investment and financing, among other issues. The meeting will be preceded by a ministers’ retreat on Tuesday.