Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura Below is Stuart Smith’s response. Members of Parliament are elected to make critical decisions on behalf of the constituents they represent, along with the wider New Zealand electorate. But from time to time, substantial issues need to be put to the public, like changing
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura Below is Stuart Smith’s response. Overseas PhD students have so much to offer New Zealand, which is why we encourage them to study here. In fact, we help fund their study because of the benefits they bring. These students create jobs; they innovate and
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura It is ironic that ANZAC Day this year coincided with two pieces of legislation currently being considered by Parliament that will have a chilling effect on our democracy. One is the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngai Tahu Representation) Bill and the other is the Rotorua District
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura Below is Stuart Smith’s response. New Zealand is currently facing a housing crisis and what underpins it is a severe shortage of homes accompanied by house price inflation. The combination of these two factors has driven inequality up and frankly locked too many hardworking
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura We live in interesting times. Last week Winston Peters put out a press release stating that Refining New Zealand (RNZ) were filling the pipes at their Marsden Point refinery with concrete, and this understandably generated a lot of concern. It was however fake news, and
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura I was shocked by the Ngai Tahu representative Liz Brown’s evidence to the Maori Affairs Select Committee hearing on the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngai Tahu Representation) Bill, last week. During her evidence, she stated that Ngai Tahu’s ultimate goal was co-governance (ECAN) and
A new survey has found two thirds of Kiwis are worried about the extent of misinformation being peddled online. Is it time for Parliament to stop pretending deliberate and provably wrong disinformation is legitimate free speech and instead recognise it as harmful and take action against it? Stuff ** The below
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura We have prided ourselves in New Zealand on our inclusiveness and generally easy going nature, if you want a go, you can have a go. But in the last few years things have changed and generally good race relations are being threatened by, of all
Information Opinion Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura It is ironic that when Covid first entered New Zealand tighter restrictions were imposed on freedom of movement and association as the outbreak progressed and eased along with the waning of the outbreak. Now though we have a completely opposite approach, with restrictions
The so-called Freedom protestors who camped at Parliament are a fringe minority which included people who threaten violence against MPs, violence against journalists, and who are so divorced from reality they demand an end to laws that don’t even exist. Is such behaviour acceptable, and what can we as
Stuart Smith National MP The Parliamentary year started this week with a roar as the ‘Freedom Convoy’ arrived in Wellington, in fact, they were almost clogging Molesworth Street outside Parliament when I walked to work at 7:30 on Tuesday morning. Security was on high alert and most of the
Crimes across the country are going uninvestigated due to the number of police officers deployed to Covid MIQ facilities and patrolling the Auckland border. Elective surgeries have been cancelled. Children’s education disrupted. Mental health problems have worsened. Has anyone produced a calculation of the social cost from fighting Covid
Freedom of speech and movement are fundamental rights in a liberal democracy and many New Zealanders fought and died so that we may continue to enjoy them. The lockdowns have seriously challenged these rights and we largely accepted these without question until the Prime Minister chose to use daily media
Stuart Smith MP for Kaikoura Spokesperson for Climate Change, EQC and Viticulture A week they say is a long time in politics and so it was with the appointment of Christopher Luxon as the new leader of the National Party last Thursday. The role of Leader of the Opposition is
Stuart Smith National MP Kaikoura The Government says it will legislate to create new entities to take over water assets owned by councils. Clearly, some local councils can’t meet the costs of providing safe drinking, waste and storm water now – 20 per cent of mass drinking water supplies don’
Stuart Smith MP for Kaikoura Spokesperson for Climate Change, EQC and Viticulture The traffic light system starts this week and the only thing we can really be sure of is that there are three different colours, Red, Orange and Green, but what they mean is not at all certain. If
