The BFD | Collins’ Comments March 2021

Hon Judith Collins
judithcollins.national.org.nz

As Parliament fully resumes, and despite the difficulties of another Covid-19 lockdown again this week, I think it is important to remember that our first responsibilities as New Zealanders are loyalty to our country, its democratic principles, and our Sovereign as Head of State.

As New Zealanders we must value equal citizenship and equal opportunity.

Together we want to grow strong families and caring communities while we reward achievement and encourage personal responsibility and competitive enterprise that is enabled by less government not more regulation.

New Zealand is a place where we support small businesses rather than see them as a target for new taxes.

We need to give space for individual freedom and choice and sustainable development of our environment.

We should be proud of the unique unity and respect we have for each other as New Zealanders in a world where often there are insurmountable differences and strife that divides families, communities and nations.

When we face a common threat like Covid -19 this sharing and strength in being a community is what protects us from more devastating lockdowns and greater economic losses.

As we remember the devastating Christchurch Earthquakes ten years on, let’s continue to respect each other’s cultures and act in good faith to support to each other in times of need. We need to think for a moment of the 185 people who died and for the thousands who lost their homes, their businesses, their jobs and their feeling of safety.

Because of this we need a government that is wise enough to give proper support where it is most needed in times of crisis.

Covid-19 Vaccinations

It is really a great relief that the Covid 19 vaccination programme has started, a good six weeks before the government’s original date. I for one, think our border workers, as the frontline of defence against Covid-19, deserve this protection for themselves, their families and friends.

I also want our country to be able to sustain its economy and that means giving people certainty to get back to business. Especially the hard hit education, tourism and hospitality sectors need this. The return of international students and visitors will enable schools, tertiary education providers, tourism operators and tourist towns to start rebuilding their lost business.

Economic recovery is of great concern as we need this for families now and for our children and grandchildren in the future.

A big economy is not the end goal but incentives and support from government to build it, gives people opportunities to grow business, to create jobs, and lift incomes. This in turn will better fund education, better support our health system and help lift children out of poverty.

Right now we are facing families in hardship especially due to the lockdowns and border closures that impact on small businesses and the tourism and travel industries. But we are also facing some personal security and safety issues that our government’s ministers do not seem to be handling well. First we had the riot at Waikeria prison that has ended in millions of dollars of damage to the facility as well as endangering corrections staff’s lives and the lives of other prisoners. We have had appalling behaviour on the roads by gangs of motorcyclists reported over the summer.

Now we have a report on the conditions in Waikeria Prison and a ruling by Judge David McNaughton which found inmates at Auckland Women’s Prison were treated in an “inhumane and degrading” manner.

It appears this finding is not respected by the Corrections Minister because he is saying he wants to go back to Corrections to get more information.

As a lawyer and a former Corrections Minister I find this response unacceptable. It shows considerable lack of respect for the laws of New Zealand and its Judges. It also shows a failure to take responsibility for the actions of the Corrections Department as its Minister and it looks like he wants the Corrections staff to take the blame for the culture at the prison.

Good intentions are not enough, there must be action on firm policy that makes sure everyone is kept safe and humanely treated.

Housing is a very important part of humane treatment of families and individuals and yet we are hearing daily of the increasing housing shortage and the increase in prices and rents across New Zealand.

Recent figures show rents are up by 25 per cent in three years. It means people cannot afford food, power and doctor visits and it is hitting young New Zealanders and their families very hard.

It is very difficult to build a house in New Zealand and our existing housing is unaffordable. It is double the price on average of houses in other cities around the world.

We need to reform our planning and RMA processes to free up land and get houses built quickly. Councils need to be able to provide consents with speed. We also need to enable Councils to provide infrastructure to support housing developments with transport, water and sewage, with urgency.

We need to have urgent temporary legislation to make it easier for individuals to build a home, not just a policy of the Government building more “state” homes which only addresses half the issue.

To enable people to afford their own homes or even to rent a decent one we need to support our economy and evolve to adapt to the post Covid-19 world and the need to be sustainable and efficient in our use of resources.

We want to support the technology sector and its potential to create highly paid jobs for the future that young people studying today, can aspire to. We need to actively support study in science and maths and the creation of new ideas in medicine, agriculture, consumer products development and manufacturing.

As well as legislating wages up, a government must support the use of technological innovations to raise productivity and increase opportunities to export products to the world while working smarter to reduce greenhouse gases and waste.

I hope that you are able to work and then relax despite our return to Covid-19 Levels 2 and 3. But ultimately I want a country that’s always moving forwards, not backwards or stopped. I want a country where everyone gets a fair go. These are my goals for New Zealand.

Best wishes,

Judith.