Search

Te Raukura – Te Wharewaka o Poneke – Wellington

“Working together to give a voice to whānau experiences”

E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o te motu tena koutou katoa.

I want to thank Community Research and in particular the tangata whenua committee, for inviting me to this special event today, to launch the Whanau Ora Research Website.

This is the third of three fabulous days that I have had, in which we have been immersed in the spirit of transformation we know to be Whanau Ora.

Finance Minister Bill English leaves on Sunday for a first-hand look at the resources sector in Queensland and Western Australia.

The trip will include meeting the premiers of Queensland and Western Australia, as well as mining and resources companies and sector groups. Mr English will also visit the Port of Brisbane, Rio Tinto’s Tom Price iron ore mine in the Pilbara region 1500km north of Perth, and Woodside Petroleum’s LNG plant in the same area.

The National Government has approved a new $25 million inpatient mental health unit at North Shore Hospital.

“The new mental health unit will be welcomed by the community and the new facility will provide better services for patients and their families,” says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

“The current Taharoto unit is an old maternity hospital and is no longer fit for purpose. There are a number of issues with the building including a lack of space, poor layout, and no ability to properly segregate male and female patients.

Senior Citizens Minister Jo Goodhew is applauding the continued growth of the SuperGold programme.

“Older people I meet say they’re not only delighted with the savings they’re getting from the scheme but also that more services older people really value are being added, particularly in the health and wellbeing category,” says Mrs Goodhew.

When it was launched the SuperGold Card scheme had 188 businesses with 2,215 outlets. There are now over 4,300 participating businesses, representing more than 8,600 outlets, signed up nationwide.

There will be 1000 more engineering places available at universities and institutes of technology in 2013, Tertiary Education Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The Government is directly funding 700 extra places for engineering students, while institutions are re-prioritising a further 300 places to meet additional engineering demand Mr Joyce says.

“New Zealand has an undersupply of engineers. Historically the number we have been training is about half the OECD average,” Mr Joyce says.

Finance Minister Bill English has welcomed news that the Australian Senate has passed legislation allowing New Zealanders returning home from Australia to bring their retirements savings with them.

It is expected the trans-Tasman portability of retirement savings will take effect from 1 July 2013.

New Zealand has been granted observer status to the fast-growing Latin America economic bloc known as the Pacific Alliance, which includes Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru. 

Trade Minister Tim Groser says observer status gives New Zealand a chance to forge closer links in the region.

“New Zealand values its engagement with these like-minded Latin American countries. Intensifying our relationship with them via the Pacific Alliance provides real opportunities for New Zealand trade with the region.”

Prime Minister John Key has met Myanmar’s opposition leader, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

It follows a meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Aung San Suu Kyi earlier this year.

“For many years Aung San Suu Kyi led efforts to bring democratic reform to Myanmar, and she has made great personal sacrifices on behalf of the country’s people,” says Mr Key.

Prime Minister John Key today announced a $7 million aid package to Myanmar.

Mr Key made the announcement following a meeting with Myanmar’s President Thein Sein in the country’s capital city Naypyitaw.

“Over the next five years we will be investing $6 million in building Myanmar’s dairy farming capabilities through our aid programme. This will complement the funding we already make available for scholarships, and the English Language Training for Officials programme,” says Mr Key.

I’m very pleased to be invited to jointly open this very first six-star Best Home - thank you.

We’re all familiar with the expression “five-star” meaning excellent, top of the line, but you don’t hear “six-star” very often!

This fantastic house, New Zealand’s first under the Best Home trademark, demonstrates that a house earning six stars for its energy efficiency can be built for only about 5 per cent more than the standard cost and certainly not the 20 per cent or so more that people think. 

The Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub is now open and available to help employers looking for workers for the Canterbury rebuild, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

“The Hub is a business-friendly one-stop shop where employers can list vacancies and be matched up with jobseekers from Christchurch and elsewhere in New Zealand. It is aimed at ensuring employers can easily get the staff they need so there are no roadblocks to the rebuild,” Mr Joyce says.

State Services Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman says a new Public Service property strategy is likely to reduce the office space foot print in Wellington by the equivalent of three Reserve Bank buildings.

Dr Coleman says Cabinet has approved the start of a centralised negotiation for future public service office space in the capital with accommodation leases due to expire for five large government agencies.

The leases due to expire include the Ministries of Social Development, Health, Education and Business Innovation and Employment, and the Crown Law Office.

The Crown Prince of Belgium, HRH Prince Philippe, accompanied by the Belgian Defence Minister Pieter De Crem, will lead a business delegation to New Zealand from 27 to 29 November, Arts and Culture Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today.

In addition to engaging in trade promotion, Prince Philippe will meet the Prime Minister and be guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Governor-General Lt Gen the Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae at Government House.

Consumer Affairs Minister Simon Bridges has announced a ban on multi-purpose ladders that do not meet Australia and New Zealand safety standards.

The ban comes after an investigation by Consumer Affairs which found that multi-purpose ladders sold on Trade Me collapsed well below their advertised weight limit.

“The metal in one of these ladders buckled and split, collapsing only seconds after a man climbed on it.  The ladder was supposed to hold up to 150kg and the man was only 90kgs,” Mr Bridges says.

Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges has welcomed new risk-ratings that show significant improvements in the safety of New Zealand’s state highway network, at the launch of the latest KiwiRAP road assessment results today in the Bay of Plenty.

KiwiRAP (New Zealand Road Assessment Programme) measures crash risk on nearly 11,000 kilometres of state highway, identifying high-risk roads to help target safety improvements.

A new initiative aimed at raising achievement among Pasifika students has been launched by the Government today in Auckland.

The Pasifika Education Plan 2013-2017, which has been developed by the Education and Pacific Island Affairs Ministries sets out how ministries can work together with other agencies, schools and communities to help raise achievement among Pasifika students.

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson says the two accolades Land Information New Zealand won at the Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards for its innovative LINZ Data Service is a great achievement.

The awards were presented in Canberra last night.

“Being named winner of the ‘Spatial Enablement’ category and the JK Barrie Award for Overall Excellence is recognition of the work Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has done to develop and implement the LINZ Data Service (LDS),” Mr Williamson says.

Te Raukura - Te Wharewaka o Pōneke, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington

Thursday 22 November 2012; 10am

Tēnā tātou katoa. Talofa lava, kia orana, malo e lelei, fakaalofa lahi atu, bula vinaka, taloha ni, fakatalofa atu, tēnā tātou katoa.

It is great to have you here, Pa Ariki and I want to mihi to Ta Meihana (Durie) for his absolute vision and commitment to Whānau Ora. It is a dream that all of us have had that he was able to make a reality.

Prime Minister John Key has announced further funding to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to support its work bringing the former leaders of the regime to justice.

New Zealand will provide a further $200,000 to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, bringing the total contribution to NZ$1.2 million over six years.

Mr Key made the announcement during a visit to the Tribunal in Phnom Penh yesterday.

Professor Margaret Brimble has been announced the 2012 Rutherford Medal winner by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.

Professor Brimble, from Auckland University’s Department of Chemistry, was awarded the prestigious scientific honour during the New Zealand Research Honours Dinner at Auckland Museum tonight.

A medicinal chemist, who designs new chemicals for the treatment of disease, she is being recognised for her world-leading contributions to the synthesis of bioactive natural products and novel peptides.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the Government’s unrelenting focus on raising achievement for all children has played a key role in the increase in New Zealanders satisfied with the New Zealand education system.

The latest Kiwis Count survey, released today by the State Services Commission, shows an improvement in the number of people satisfied with the education system.

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says Cabinet has approved an application from the NZ Transport Agency to pursue a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to finance and build the Transmission Gully highway, part of the Wellington Northern Corridor Road of National Significance.

“A Board of Inquiry appointed by the Minister for the Environment approved the resource consents and notices required for this project in June, and in August I requested the NZTA to assess the suitability of using a PPP procurement model to design and build the highway,” Mr Brownlee says.

Arts Minister Christopher Finlayson has welcomed the first evaluation report of Sistema Aotearoa, saying it justifies the investment made in the children’s classical music programme by the government and private philanthropists.

Government initiatives underway to get more young people and the unemployed into work have the support of New Zealand employers, new research shows.

A survey of 2000 employers and in-depth interviews with 53 firms by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment found that improving education, training and skills for young people and the unemployed removed barriers and enhanced their chances of getting a job.