National MP Nick Smith has announced he will retire from Parliament on 10 June at the end of the current Parliamentary sitting block. “I have decided to retire for personal and professional reasons, including a current Parliamentary Services inquiry into an employment issue. “I was disappointed to lose the Nelson
Dane Giraud Free Speech Union The Free Speech Union is writing a ‘please explain’ to Christchurch City Council and its libraries after the feminist group ‘Speak-up for Women’ was banned from holding an event to discuss a controversial piece of legislation relating to sex identification. “This decision totally ignores the
Labour’s Broken Compass Budget has failed to address the growing critical threats to New Zealand’s digital infrastructure, National’s spokesperson for Digital Economy and Communications Melissa Lee says. “We only have to look at what’s happening to the Waikato DHB to know how important it is to
The Government’s newly named Provincial Growth Fund isn’t anything new, it merely demonstrates its inability to deliver for New Zealanders, National’s Economic Development spokesperson Todd McClay says. “In 2017 Grant Robertson said the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) ‘says everything about what I want this Government to be
It is right to have important conversations around inequities, but it is wrong to peddle crude, simplistic, stereotypes imported from America which are more divisive than constructive, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “Teachers are being shown videos that instruct them to list their ‘privileges’ and view their students
The Climate Commission should be presenting New Zealand with a range of viable options for emissions reduction with cost analysis included, National’s Climate Change Spokesperson Stuart Smith says. “Climate Commission Chair Dr Rod Carr’s column on why he is not recommending a least cost pathway fails to answer
It’s disappointing a women’s group has been blocked from holding an event at Christchurch City Libraries to discuss the proposed amendments to the Births Deaths Marriages Relationships Registration Bill, Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins says. Christchurch City Libraries cancelled the group’s event after receiving complaints from
It’s taken far too long for the Government move on saliva testing at the border but National welcomes the announcement nonetheless, National’s Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop says. “National has been pushing for the Government to include saliva testing as part of the testing methods for our border workers
Once again the Ministry of Health has quietly updated it’s timeline for vaccinating New Zealanders, this time pushing out the start date for when the majority of Kiwis can begin to be vaccinated, National’s Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop says. “In late April the Ministry of Health website was
A key dental health promise from Labour during the election has been dropped in order to pay for its radical $486 million Health restructure, National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says. Labour promised New Zealanders during the 2020 campaign that it would increase the amount people could claim for
The Government must explain why despite a significant increase in the number of people supported by Whanau Ora throughout COVID-19, no additional funding in Budget 2021 was provided, National’s Whanau Ora spokesperson Louise Upston says. “During COVID-19 Whanau Ora provided a range of critical supports to over 226,000
The Government has cut the Police Budget by approximately $90 million despite record growth in gang membership, National’s Police spokesperson Simeon Brown says. “This Broken Compass Budget has nothing in it for law and order even though Kiwis are expressing feeling much less safe in their communities and gun
Rather than abandoning social obligations on beneficiaries to send their children to school, we should be enforcing those requirements especially at a time when New Zealand is facing a truancy crisis, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “There has been an increase in the number of students not enrolled
David Seymour ACT Leader Thank you very much to the organisers of ACT’s 2021 rally. It’s great to be here with a crowd of 500 people. To Malcolm Pollock for his tireless work and Regan Pollock for hiring him out again, and the whole committee, thank you for
Good morning, delegates. It’s an absolute privilege to be speaking to you all here today as your leader. I’d like to acknowledge National Party President Peter Goodfellow, regional chairperson Andrew von Dadelszen, my fellow board members, my Central North Island colleagues, and all of you, the members of
Parents and teachers will be disappointed that in a Budget with about $15 billion worth of new spending, so little was devoted to pressing challenges in education, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “While a little bit of help was promised for Alternative Education and intensive support for children
