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The Government has contributed $10,000 to the Marlborough Mayoral Earthquake Fund, Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said today.

“On 16 August 2013 the Lake Grassmere earthquake caused widespread damage in Marlborough, particularly in the Seddon-Ward area,” Ms Kaye says.

“In response to this, the Mayor of the Marlborough District Council Alistair Sowman has established the Marlborough Mayoral Earthquake Fund, to help those who have experienced the greatest loss.

Associate Education Minister, Nikki Kaye, has today announced Jack Matthews will be joining the board of Crown-owned company Network for Learning (N4L).

Mr Matthews is known in New Zealand as the driving force behind the rollout of Saturn’s (now Vodafone’s) hybrid fibre-coax cable network in Wellington and Christchurch. Most recently he was Chief Executive, Metropolitan Media at Fairfax Media in Sydney and prior to that he was Chief Executive of Fairfax Digital, which manages all online media, including TradeMe, for the group.

Today Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced a $15.64m investment in new facilities for Tarawera High School.

“This is a great outcome for the Kawerau community and for the educational future of its young people. This is a significant investment reflecting the importance we place on raising achievement, and success for all,” says Ms Parata.

“We want to deliver a sustainable, modern learning environment for greatest benefit to students, families and whānau and to the Kawerau community as a whole.”

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says people should be prepared for more aftershocks from the 6.6 magnitude Lake Grassmere earthquake last Friday.

“People should make sure they have a good emergency plan in place for their families, that they have adequate supplies and that they drop, cover and hold during earthquakes,” Ms Kaye says.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye have today released the draft terms of inquiry for the Government’s investigation into the whey protein concentrate contamination (WPC) incident.

“The Government has agreed in principle to establish a joint Ministerial-led Government Inquiry which will be divided into two parts,” says Mr Guy.

“Part A will look at how the potentially contaminated whey protein concentrate entered the New Zealand and international market, and how this was subsequently addressed.

Youth Affairs Minister Nikki Kaye has today opened the 2014 Youth Fund, with $200,000 available for applications from young people for community projects.

“The Ministry of Youth Development’s Youth Fund is unique in that it supports community projects designed and led by young people (aged 12-24), or by youth organisations in partnership with young people that develop active community participation,” Ms Kaye says.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye said today the New Zealand ShakeOut campaign that ran last year was so successful it will be repeated.

“The report back tells us that this campaign, New Zealand’s largest ever earthquake preparedness campaign, had 1,340,529 people registered to participate in the Drop, Cover and Hold earthquake drill, which is about 30 per cent of New Zealand’s population,” Ms Kaye says.

Almost half of New Zealand schools have registered their interest in connecting to Network for Learning’s managed network, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

“On Friday 2 August we announced the managed network for all New Zealand schools was beginning development and that schools could register their interest with Network for Learning (N4L). Since then 1161 of around 2500 schools had registered as of this morning,” Ms Kaye says.

“This is made up of 867 primary schools, 222 secondary and 72 composite schools.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye confirm that Nutricia has today narrowed the scope of the recall for infant formula.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today opened an international workshop to train Pacific Island countries and consult on planned new Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) information products.

PTWC’s planned new information tools will be launched next year. The aim is to enable countries that currently cannot create tsunami threat models to issue more accurate warnings. 

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye say the Ministries of Education, Primary Industries (MPI) and Health are assisting Palmerston North Girls’ High School with information about potentially contaminated whey protein concentrate the school used.

“The Ministry of Health has advised us that the product was used in a science project to make drinks. While some students may have consumed drinks with the product in them, it was last consumed on 19 April 2013,” Mr Ryall says.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye confirm there have been no reported cases of infant botulism in New Zealand to date.

“There are also no cases where infant botulism looks likely to be the cause,” Mr Ryall says.

“The Ministry of Health has a rapid comprehensive reporting process for paediatric units where a child is admitted to hospital and infant botulism looks likely to be the cause and where other more common conditions have been excluded,” Mr Ryall says.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye say Plunket nurses are today contacting as many Plunket mothers as they can who are using infant formula to ensure they are aware of the recall.

“And the Ministry of Health is discussing with Tamariki Ora WellChild providers to ensure they are passing on the information to their families using infant formula,” Mr Ryall says.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye say a public information campaign is underway to inform parents about the voluntary recall by Nutricia of two lines of infant formula that may be contaminated.

“The recalled products are Karicare Stage 1 New Baby Infant Formula (from birth) and Karicare Gold+ Stage 2 Follow-on Formula (from 6 months) all batches,” Ms Kaye says.

“The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), as New Zealand’s food safety regulator, is able to assist companies when they do voluntary recalls.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye have welcomed a voluntary recall by Nutricia of two lines of infant formula that may be contaminated.

“The recalled products are Karicare Stage 1 New Baby Infant Formula (from birth) and Karicare Gold+ Stage 2 Follow-on Formula (from 6 months),” Ms Kaye says.

“We have been advised that Nutricia has voluntarily recalled the products to ensure potentially affected stock is off the shelves until there can be complete confidence as to whether or not these products are contaminated.”

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye advise parents and caregivers to follow the updated Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) advice on potentially contaminated infant formula in New Zealand stores.

Ms Kaye says updated information on affected products can be found here: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/food/food-safety/whey-protein-contamination

Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye is encouraging consumers to heed the advice on potentially contaminated products provided this afternoon by the Director General of Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

"The Director General of MPI has informed me today he is taking a cautionary approach and has exercised powers under the Food Act 1981 and the Animal Products Act 1999 to issue a Statutory Statement regarding potentially contaminated products on the New Zealand market and to provide advice to consumers," Ms Kaye says.

Tena Kotou, Tena Kotou, Tena Kotou Katoa, Talofa lava, Nihau

It is great to be here in the heart of South Auckland at Mangere Central School. It is also great to be here with our Prime Minister and Education Minister Hekia Parata who are both strong advocates of equality of opportunity in our education system. It is only through their belief in the importance of improving learning opportunities through technology that we are here today.

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today confirmed that the Crown-owned company, Network for Learning (N4L), has signed a contract with Telecom to provide a managed network for all New Zealand schools.

“The Government is committed to raising achievement for all children and providing modern learning environments is critical to that,’’ Ms Parata says.

Youth Affairs Minister Nikki Kaye has today released the latest survey about the health and wellbeing of New Zealand secondary school students.

“It is encouraging that on a number of critical measures life has improved considerably for young people compared to 10 years ago,” Ms Kaye says.

“This survey – the latest in a five-yearly survey cycle of New Zealand secondary school students – shows clear evidence of a marked reduction in tobacco, alcohol and drug use by young people over this time period.

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye has today announced a new complaints process and more accessible information for the special education school transport assistance (SESTA) services.

This is one of the first outcomes of a review carried out by the SESTA Reference Group which is made up of representatives from the education sector, families who use SESTA services, and transport operators. The group has also developed an accessible brochure (available from 2 September) that will help families have better information about the service.

Youth Affairs Minister Nikki Kaye has today announced one-off funding of $21,600 to allow 15 young people from Kawerau to take part in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Award in New Zealand and over that time more than 200,000 young people have registered for the programme.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye says the response to the recent Cook Strait earthquakes on Sunday demonstrate the high calibre of civil defence staff and the importance of being prepared.

“This morning I met with Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and senior members of the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office team (WREMO),” Ms Kaye says.

Youth Affairs Minister Nikki Kaye has today announced that 29 local authorities will benefit from this year’s Youth Development Partnership Fund totalling $889,000.

“These councils, from throughout New Zealand, are working with young people to develop the skills, knowledge and experience they need to participate and be part of their communities,” Ms Kaye says.