Search

Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC) today joined legal proceedings over appeals lodged against the $1.2 billion redevelopment of the Three Kings quarry in Auckland.

“I am taking this unusual step of joining proceedings to support the Auckland Council and Fletcher Residential because of the size and significance of the project and to make a firm stand in favour of these sorts of plan changes that are needed to address Auckland’s growth and housing problems,” Dr Smith says as Environment Minister.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says thousands of new entrants heading to school for the first time this week have benefited from a free B4 School Check.

“The B4 School Check helps to give children the best start at school by identifying and addressing any potential health or developmental problems at an early stage,” says Dr Coleman.

“In 2014/15 the programme reached a record 92 per cent, that’s over 58,000 pre-schoolers across the country - the highest rate since the programme began back in 2008.

Police Minister Judith Collins says the New Police Family Violence Information Disclosure Scheme (FVIDS) has been used 14 times since it was launched in December 2015.

“The Family Violence Information Disclosure Scheme allows Police to disclose a partner or potential partner’s history of violence. A request for the disclosure may be made to the Police by the partner of the potentially violent person, or a concerned third party,” says Ms Collins.

More rural New Zealanders are experiencing blistering internet speeds thanks to Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) towers being upgraded to 4G, Communications Minister Amy Adams said today.

As of this month, more than 200 of Vodafone’s RBI towers have been built or upgraded to 4G.

“This means more than 100,000 rural families and businesses now have access to fibre-like speeds, with some experiencing speeds of 100Mbps,” Ms Adams says.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says the Government has given the green light to a new $72 million Outpatients facility to be built in Canterbury.

“The Government is committed to ensuring that Canterbury DHB is well placed to continue to deliver high quality services,” says Dr Coleman.

“The new building will be located in the health precinct on St Andrew’s triangle directly opposite Christchurch Hospital, which is close to the CBD and on public transport routes.

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne travels to London today to present the Digital Leaders Network 2016 Annual Lecture.

This is a ministerial hosted event that takes place in Westminster, with a theme of meeting the demands and expectations of on-going digital transformation.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has wished children and young people well as they prepare to pick up their school bags and head to school this week.

“I hope kids are feeling full of beans after the summer break and looking forward to the challenges of a new year. We’re expecting just over three-quarters of a million students to return to school or start school this week.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye will today attend the 85th anniversary afternoon tea for survivors of the 1931 Napier earthquake, to pay tribute to the heroism, kindness and generosity shown by many during this and more recent emergencies.

“From both the Napier and more recent Canterbury quakes, there are many stories of neighbours, friends, families and strangers helping one another and placing others before themselves,” says Ms Kaye.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has released an updated draft of Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill and details around further consultation hui.

“I’m pleased that significant changes have been made to the Bill which reflect the written submissions and feedback from nationwide hui received last year. We listened to the people and acted on their kōrero,” says Mr Flavell.

Some of the key changes to the updated draft Bill are:

Schools nationwide are all able to connect to fast, reliable broadband, Communications Minister Amy Adams announced today.

“With the new term starting next week, teachers, parents and students across the country will be delighted to hear that all schools can now connect to the information superhighway that is our Government-funded broadband network,” Ms Adams says.

The latest figures from Statistics New Zealand showing 27,132 consents for the year and 2538 for the month of December are the highest in more than a decade and show residential construction is booming, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

Tihe mauri ora!

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e rau rangatira mā

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

It’s my great privilege on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand to welcome you to your new home here in New Zealand. 

Each one of you arrives here from different places and different experiences. I cannot begin to imagine the horrors you have experienced and the personal sacrifices you have made to make the journey to New Zealand. Many of you will have left behind family members as well as jobs, friends and a way of life.

Trade Minister Todd McClay today welcomed confirmation from Labour MPs Phil Goff and David Shearer that many in the Labour caucus have not strayed as far from their free trade roots as their leader would have New Zealand believe.

Both have declared their support for TPP and rejected their leader’s misplaced opposition to New Zealand’s biggest free trade deal.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins presented the Minister’s Excellence Award to two newly graduated Corrections Officers today.

Ms Collins established the Minister’s Excellence Award in 2009 during her previous term as Minister of Corrections to recognise newly graduated Corrections Officers who have shown qualities of leadership, professionalism and all-round excellence.

The Minister attended the Corrections Officer Development Pathway graduation at Corrections’ National Office today, where 24 new officers graduated.

New Zealand’s 49 most remote schools are all now connected to faster broadband just in time for the start of Term One, says Communications Minister Amy Adams.

The Remote Schools Broadband Initiative (RSBI) was established in 2012 to improve broadband services to remote schools. The programme provides point-to-point wireless broadband (at least 10 megabits per second) for small schools in remote rural areas, where fibre would not be cost-effective.

The Government will invest $6 million in a new nine-classroom block at Khandallah School in Wellington, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“This redevelopment will address structural and weathertightness issues in the school’s current main teaching block,” says Ms Kaye.

“The old eight-classroom block will be replaced by the new block, which will meet full innovative learning environment (ILE) standards and also accommodate projected roll growth.

Education Minister Hekia Parata, together with Parliamentary Under-Secretary David Seymour, has terminated the agreement under which the Ngā Parirau Mātauranga Charitable Trust runs a partnership school at Whangaruru in Northland.

Ms Parata informed the trust of her decision on Tuesday.

“Significant progress has been made in addressing the governance and management issues that caused me to issue the Trust with a performance notice in February.

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has welcomed the latest benefit valuation which shows a $12 billion reduction over four years in the welfare system’s future lifetime cost, which equates to clients spending 900,000 fewer years on benefits over their working lifetimes, compared to pre-reform expectations.

“Welfare reforms have had a significant impact over the past few years in helping more people into work as well as providing substantial savings for the taxpayer,” Mrs Tolley says.

New Zealand has been reaffirmed as one of the top countries in the world for low corruption levels, Justice Minister Amy Adams says.

In Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index released today, New Zealand was ranked fourth out of 167 countries on perceived levels of corruption in the public sector.

“Our ranking reflects the good systems we have in place for investigating and exposing corruption in the public sector. What’s more, we’ve demonstrated a zero-tolerance for corruption and bribery,” Ms Adams says.

Figures released today show the Government’s infrastructure programme is a significant contributor to jobs across New Zealand, Finance Minister Bill English and Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce say.

Prime Minister John Key today announced funding of up to $115 million to accelerate regionally significant roading projects in Taranaki, Gisborne and  Marlborough, Transport Minister Simon Bridges says.

The Government announced its Accelerated Regional Roading Programme in 2014 to speed up the delivery of transport projects considered important to regions.

A number of projects are already underway and today the Government has announced it’s accelerating a further four projects. These are:

The Government today announced its intention to streamline the consent process for the East-West Connection roading project in Auckland in order to bring forward its construction.

The project, estimated to cost between $1.25 and $1.85 billion, will provide a seamless link between the South-Western Motorway (SH20) and the Southern Motorway (SH1). It will also tackle congestion and provide more reliable travel times in and out of the Onehunga-Penrose industrial area, and between the eastern suburbs and the airport.

The Government will work with Auckland Council to bring forward the start date of the City Rail Link (CRL), Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce and Transport Minister Simon Bridges announced today.

The Government is also working to formalise its funding commitment from 2020, which the Council has indicated would allow construction of the main works to start in 2018, at least two years sooner than currently envisaged.

Good afternoon. It’s great to see so many of you here today.

I want to start by acknowledging Mayor Len Brown, the Auckland Council and the Chamber of Commerce – all strong advocates for this city.

And I want to thank the Chamber for hosting this event.

Finally, can I acknowledge my ministerial colleagues Steven Joyce and Nikki Kaye. Unfortunately, Transport Minister Simon Bridges cannot be here today as he’s visiting Antarctica.

It’s good to kick off the New Year here in Auckland - New Zealand’s gateway city.