HELEN WHITE, LABOUR LIST MP

As you may have seen we’ve just released this year’s Budget, which sets out the next steps in our plan to build a secure future for New Zealand.

I wanted to make sure that you’d heard about a couple of key Budget initiatives, including a cost of living package to support people here in Auckland Central.

Right now the fundamentals of our economy are strong. We have a record low unemployment rate, economic activity that is higher than it was before Covid-19, and debt lower than most countries we compare ourselves to. Our strong health response protected our economy through Covid-19 and we’ve pulled through better than almost anywhere else in the world.

But we know that despite these positive indicators, things are tough right now for many families as global inflation affects prices here at home. That’s why with Budget 2022, we’re taking further steps to ease the financial pressure on Kiwis with a new cost of living package.

This package includes a new temporary payment to help Kiwis with higher food and power bills. This will benefit more than two million people earning up to $70,000 a year who don’t already receive the Winter Energy Payment, including many here in Auckland.

Alongside this payment, we’re tackling transport costs, by extending our fuel tax cut, reduced road user charges and half price public transport for a further two months, and making half price public transport permanent for people on low incomes. We’re also taking action on supermarkets to make sure Kiwis are paying a fair price at the checkout.

It is important we do what we can to take the hard edges off the global factors that are affecting us here in New Zealand, and these practical measures will help families in Auckland and across the country.

I’m proud of this cost of living package, but it’s not the only part of the Budget that will benefit people in Auckland Central. To secure our future we’re making our largest ever investment in the health system and Pharmac, ensuring more Kiwis can access lifesaving medicines and treatments, and we’re delivering more paramedics and ambulances to ensure urgent care is on hand when needed. We’re also improving support for Kiwis with serious and acute conditions as part of our work to build a new mental health and addiction system.

As we do all this, we’ll continue to carefully manage the books – and our careful fiscal management means we return to surplus quicker than National did after the global financial crisis.

There’s a lot more in the Budget that will benefit people here in Auckland. If you’d like to know more, I’d encourage you to check out labour.org.nz/budget2022. Whether it’s helping businesses switch to renewable energy or futureproofing our health system, I know that our Government’s actions will make a real difference for Kiwis, now and in years to come. (HELEN WHITE)  PN

This article was funded by Parliamentary Services. www.facebook.com/HelenWhiteLabour

165 PONSONBY ROAD T: 09 360 1611 www.ponsonbyroadbistro.co.nz

At the May meeting, Ponsonby U3A members rose to their feet to give a standing ovation to the speaker. She was none other than Dame Silvia Cartwright.

There to talk about what she ironically referred to as her ‘brilliant’ career, Dame Silvia treated her audience to an overwhelming account of her life from humble early beginnings through to the stellar positions she has held. And on the way she provided fascinating insights and humorous snippets, never letting go of the humble persona that is hers.

Dame Silvia describes herself from the outset as a ‘lonely and mediocre student'; lonely because she was the sole woman at law school, and mediocre because initially she had no idea of how to study effectively. But soon her parents had a daughter, who by working hard went on to become the first female District Court Judge, the first woman in New Zealand to be appointed to the High Court, and of course the Governor General of New Zealand.

Demonstrating her abiding love of legal and procedural issues, Dame Silvia has also displayed a rigorous concern for human rights throughout her cases. She has challenged an aspect of the New Zealand Crimes Act in relation to disciplining children; monitored compliance with the United Nations Convention to eliminate discrimination against women; investigated war crimes in Cambodia for eight years - a personal high point for her; chaired the Commission of Enquiry into the treatment of cervical cancer; and led the public enquiry into the Earthquake Commission.

Currently, among other things, Dame Silvia is Chair of the International Committee of Jurists and is shortly to begin leading yet another high-profile enquiry. When asked how she came to achieve all she has, she insists, “I am very much an unremarkable and everyday woman who worked hard and had a loving and supportive husband and a large circle of family and friends who promoted and supported me.”

As one of the members said in thanking Dame Silvia for her presentation, “You have challenged laws that you have seen as overbearing, tackling the issues without fear or favour; you have continued your life standing up for what you have believed is right for our full community, and we applaud you.” Indeed, there is nothing unremarkable about this woman!

The ten-minute speaker was Alistair Wright who in a speech peppered with levity, romped through his fifty-year career in law. In the early days his firm let him enrol for criminal legal cases and every day he would wait like seagull for the registrar to hand him a file. Once Alistair was given the case of a young client who with his mate had shot three turkeys on the road. A farmer filed charges of theft and wilful damage. Alistair’s client pleaded not guilty, but his mate pleaded guilty. In court the farmer appeared with a large case covered in bloodied newspapers and pulled out two bloodied, defrosting frozen turkeys. Asking only three questions of the farmer, Alistair managed to show that because the turkeys had wandered onto the farm in the first place the farmer could not own them as one cannot own wild animals.

Ponsonby U3A holds a general meeting each month and hosts a guest speaker with topics ranging widely over diverse issues. It is a meeting place to stimulate the mind and importantly to make new friends. Special interest groups cover thirty different special interest areas, and it is in these small groups where friendships are forged. (CHRISTINE HART)  PN

NEXT MEETING: The June meeting will be a members’ only event but in succeeding months, visitors are welcome to attend monthly meetings.

ENQUIRES TO ATTEND: Telephone President Philippa Tait on T: 027 4523 108. www.u3a.nz.

Dame Silvia Cartwright

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