Category: National Party

Source: National Party – Headline: National delegation show of support at Field Days

National Party leader Simon Bridges is heading a large delegation of National Party MPs in a show of support for rural communities at this year’s Central District’s Field Days event in Feilding.   

Mr Bridges will be joined by local MP Ian McKelvie and Primary Industries spokesperson Nathan Guy today. MPs Barbara Kuriger, Alastair Scott, Harete Hipango, Matt Doocey, Tim Van de Molen, Lawrence Yule and incoming MP Nicola Willis will all be on hand over the coming days to celebrate the event’s 25^th year.

“With over 550 exhibitors and over 25,000 visitors this is one of New Zealand’s largest regional agricultural events and is an important showcase for the primary productions sector.

“We recognise that farmers and growers are feeling the pressure of all the uncertainty the new Government is heaping on the sector.

“The Government is holding back regional New Zealand through its opposition to irrigation and water storage projects – all of which help grow jobs, boost exports and provide environmental sustainability.

“The Primary Growth Partnership has not only been frozen, but has been raided to the tune of $17 million to fund an unnecessary rebrand of MPI, at the expense of vitally important research and development funding.

“And for those farmers dealing with the spread of the cattle disease Mycoplasma Bovis, MPI has been forced to go cap-in-hand to industry to fund its containment – with no commitment to actually eradicate it.

“The Manawatu-Whanganui region is one of the regions the National Government backed through its 2016 Economic Action Plan.

“The Plan aimed to build on the region’s strengths in primary production and food innovation, and benefit modelling carried out by NZIER estimated the primary sector opportunities alone would have the potential to increase regional GDP by around $580 million by 2025.

“With the new Government largely ignoring the sector, National intends to continue to support an area so vital to New Zealand’s ongoing economic success,” Mr Bridges says.  

Source: National Party – Headline: Air Force not a taxi service for its Minister

Defence Minister Ron Mark has some serious questions to answer over what appears to be totally inappropriate use of NZDF aircraft, National’s Defence spokesman Mark Mitchell says.

“Official Information shows Air Force NH-90 helicopters and a B200 King Air aircraft have repeatedly been diverted to Mr Mark’s hometown, Masterton, apparently to ferry the minister from his home to events around the country and back again,” Mr Mitchell says.

“There is no Royal New Zealand Air Force base in Masterton, which suggests the aircraft are being sent from Ohakea Air Base for the Minister’s personal convenience.

“Mr Mark has even used an NH90 to travel from Masterton to Waiouru and back in the same day – a three hour trip each way by car. Why did he not save the taxpayer the cost and the NZDF the time and use a much cheaper Crown car instead? It’s happening so regularly locals are asking questions about it.

“At a time when the Defence Force is being asked to do more than ever before, while also being asked to tighten its belt and brace for a funding cut it is appalling that the Minister of Defence is using the Air Force as a personal taxi service.

“I want to know why the Minister has either requested this service, or refused to decline it, as he would have known there is no way the flying hours, fuel and cost could be justified.

“This is an incredibly inappropriate use of Defence resources, and I am sure the public would be interested to know why the Minister is opting to use already stretched Defence assets rather than the Ministerial Crown Cars that are available to him.

“Mr Mark needs to front and explain why he thinks his personal convenience is the most appropriate use of taxpayer funded defence resources,” Mr Mitchell says.

Source: National Party – Headline: Ardern-Peters Govt needs to stand alongside UK

The Prime Minister needs to join Australia and others and immediately take a stand alongside the UK in the wake of the military-grade nerve agent attack on UK soil, National’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson Todd McClay says.

“Following the use of a Russian produced nerve agent in an attempted execution of a British citizen the UK is calling on its friends and allies to join it in taking action against Russia.

“The attack has left a former Russian spy and his daughter in a critical condition and others hospitalised.

“This is an appalling, violent breach of the sovereignty of one of New Zealand’s closest friends. The evidence points to Russian responsibility and the Ardern-Peters Government must join the likes of the European Union, the US and Australia in expressing its support of the UK in the strongest possible terms.

“Foreign Minister Winston Peters is fast earning himself an international reputation as an apologist for Russia and his inexplicable push for a free trade agreement is raising questions and concerns among our closest partners – and threatening our own trade agenda.

“The Prime Minister needs to shut him down and start showing some leadership to our friends and allies.

“This Ardern-Peters Government is continuing to put its personal biases ahead of the national interest and that must stop.”

Source: National Party – Headline: GDP figures show Government must nurture growth

The Government needs to be careful with its economic policy settings as Stats NZ figures show growth slowed slightly at the end of last year, National Party Finance Spokesperson Amy Adams says.

“While growth for the year is a respectable 2.9 per cent, that is significantly slower than the 4 per cent experienced in the 2016 year, and the 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent in the two years before that,” Ms Adams says.

“We saw a slight slowing of growth in the end of last year, as weather and policy uncertainty started to take a little bit of the shine off the New Zealand story. It’s worrying that growth has slowed in the fisheries, forestry and agriculture sectors.

“The Government needs to take notice and be careful that its economic policy settings don’t put a handbrake on New Zealand over the next few years at the very time the world economy is picking up speed.

“Labour’s policies in areas like international investment, employment relations, and immigration could all combine negatively to restrict the capacity of New Zealand businesses to grow and succeed. That would be a major missed opportunity for our country and its prosperity.

“The benefits of having growth almost continuously over the last seven years is apparent in a range of areas.

“As we saw yesterday we have reduced out international debt from 84 per cent of GDP down to 52.8 per cent of GDP over the last nine years. That’s a huge contribution to New Zealand’s economic sovereignty.

“And the strong Government books have flowed through into opportunities for increased investment like the initiatives in child poverty in last year’s budget which were largely picked up by the new Government.

“Now is not the time to put barriers in the way of growth. We have experienced what it is like to have a Government focused on the economic strength of our country. The new Government needs to make sure it doesn’t allow the opportunities we have as a country to drift away.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Hipkins’ ideology could cost taxpayers $42m a year

Education Minister Chris Hipkins’ unilateral decision to prevent parents from sending their children to school before the age of five as part of cohort entry could cost taxpayers up to $42 million more a year, National’s Education Spokesperson Nikki Kaye has revealed.

“Yet again Mr Hipkins has rushed through an ideological policy without working through the detail or potential cost to taxpayers, and it’s come back to bite him,” Ms Kaye says.

“Last year he announced that he would be changing the law around cohort entry to stop parents being able to send their kids to school prior to their fifth birthday, before receiving any briefings on the issue and without going through the proper Cabinet process.

“Information released under the OIA shows Mr Hipkins only received a memo about the costs of his new policy after he had already announced his decision. It is clear he didn’t give his Cabinet colleagues the full picture of potential costs, which could add up to hundreds of millions over the next few years.

“The memo shows that the Ministry of Education estimates there will be between $5 million and $50 million each year in costs to pay for kids to be in early childhood education for longer, given they will no longer be able to start school early. This is up to $42 million more than it would cost to implement the current policy.

“While it is unlikely that costs will reach $50 million each year because this would require 100 per cent uptake of cohort entry, it is reasonable to assume they could be tens of millions of dollars given the support shown by schools and parents for cohort entry – and that’s without counting the cost to parents of forcing them to keep kids in early childhood education for longer.

“The irresponsible and arrogant manner in which Mr Hipkins made his decision meant that his colleagues weren’t made aware of the potential $42 million annual cost before he announced it.

“This follows his Government’s decision to give $2.8 billion to students for free tertiary education before doing the work needed to ensure that the money would be spent wisely. Now we have a situation where $38 million will be wasted on university dropouts.

“I suspect Mr Hipkins will be steering clear of Finance Minister Grant Robertson, who has the unenviable task of trying to balance the books while his colleagues are out spending money behind his back.

“This is a Government with a very tight budget. It cannot afford to be wasting more money because of ideologies and rushed decisions.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Megan Woods should stop re-announcing R&D programmes

Science and innovation Minister Megan Woods should stop re-announcing the previous Government’s R&D programmes and come up with some of her own, National Party Science and Innovation Spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.

“Ms Woods has attempted to fool the media by re-launching the MBIE Innovative Partnerships programme which was previously announced and launched by the National Government in 2016,” Ms Parmar says.

“It is clear that she has nothing new to say on research and development.

“The Ardern-Peters Government have spent so much on its bribe to university students that the word around town is that there will be no new funding available for research and development in this year’s budget.

“Labour has set a big target of lifting research and development spending to 2 per cent of GDP but they have no plan on how to get there.

“Ms Woods needs to stop re-treading the previous Government’s programmes and announce the detail of her own policies.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Working group lines up more taxes

New Zealanders will be deeply suspicious and rightly so about the Labour Party’s plan for new taxes as signalled today by their tax working group, National Party Finance Spokesperson Amy Adams says.

“What we’ve seen today from the Tax Working Group is a dressed up version of the old Labour Party plan to add a raft of new taxes,” Ms Adams says.

“A financial transactions tax, capital gains tax, a land tax, wealth taxes, environmental taxes; they all have one thing in common. It’s the return of Michael Cullen with his hands deep in the pockets of hardworking Kiwis trying to think of new ways to get more money from them.

“If the Government was serious about the stated aim of the Tax Working Group proposals being revenue neutral, the discussion document would include specific proposals to reduce the tax take in other areas. The document instead talks about the need for taxation to increase.

“Tax revenues are already going up because of the strong New Zealand economy. Three years ago the Government collected $66.6 billion in tax, it’s forecast to be $78.2 billion this year and $93 billion by 2021. That’s more than enough of an increase, even for a tax and spend Labour Party Government.

“Adding new taxes would only discourage savings, investment, and slow down the New Zealand economy.

“The public will be worried about the direction that the Tax Working Group appears to be taking. It’s hard enough for mum and dad investors to get a small nest egg together over their lifetime without it being subject to even more tax.

“With Sir Michael’s penchant for taxing people and Grant Robertson’s determination to spend a lot more money, storm clouds are gathering for hardworking Kiwis who already pay enough tax.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Politicking seriously risking Metro Sports Facility

It is time for the Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration Megan Woods to stop deliberate holdups and political engineering and just get the Metro Sports Facility underway, National’s spokesperson for Greater Christchurch Regeneration Nicky Wagner says.

“Media reports that official information being sent to the Minister showing her politically-motivated search for cost cutting measures may take the whole thing back to the drawing board are deeply troubling.

“Every day the clock and the dollars are ticking over on the Metro Sports Facility project. The delay is now the Minister’s, and I urge her to act now,” Ms Wagner says.

“Christchurch residents have put too much time and energy into this project for the Minister to dither. A lot of time has already been spent identifying community needs, ensuring that the project fulfilled a wide range of needs, and designing the facility for construction.

“The building, if it follows the current design, will be fit-for-purpose and it is expected to be one of the best sporting complexes in the Southern Hemisphere.

“However, I am concerned that ‘cost saving measures’ that are reportedly being considered by the Government will not only downsize this project but also trigger substantial delays.

“It is appalling that this important project may fall victim to Labour’s over-promising in other areas. If money is stripped away from the project it will have huge implications on the facility.

“As is often the case with such big projects, potential risks were identified in the middle of 2017 but a peer reviewed solution was requested and delivered to the Minster. Instead of following this advice, the Minister ordered yet another report that confirmed the previous advice that this is the right option.

“The only reason the next phase in August 2017 wasn’t signed off was because it was within the election period, and if authorised, the project would be proceeding by now.

“This facility will boost our community health, continue the revitalisation of the central city and provide our high-performance athletes and sports clubs the facilities they need.

“The people of Christchurch, our children and families, along with our sports people are all waiting to see progress on this project and there is no reason for the continued delay,” Mrs Wagner says.

Source: National Party – Headline: Labour’s school donations policy expensive and unrealistic

Labour will need to come up with more cash if it is to go ahead with its unrealistic plan to end school donations, with data showing that over $130 million in donations was paid in 2016 – almost twice the estimated cost of Labour’s policy, National’s Education Spokesperson Nikki Kaye says.

“Labour estimated the policy would cost $70 million, apparently based on 450,000 students being covered by the policy, with no detail as to how they estimated this uptake.

“Given Labour made big promises about ending school donations, it’s clear it’ll need to find more money in its already-tight budget or admit that the policy is too expensive and unrealistic.

“The fact is the Government has little ability to force schools not to ask for donations and in order to really incentivise them, it could cost twice as much as what it budgeted for.

“Giving schools that scrap donations an extra $150 per student will not be near enough. In 2016, the number of donations reported to Inland Revenue that were $150 and under made up just 21.5 per cent of all donations. What incentive will the Government offer to counter the 78.5 per cent of donations over $150?

“While the IRD data is only a snapshot of all donations made, because many parents are not claiming tax rebates, it is still a strong indication that the $150 promised by the Government will only incentivise a small proportion of schools.

“The Government needs to work better with schools and parents to ensure that they know that they could be eligible to claim back up to a third of their voluntary school donations.

“Education Minister Chris Hipkins will be under huge pressure after spending $2.8 billion on tertiary education students, leaving little money left for the rest of the education sector.

“What’s disappointing is that the Ministry of Education has withheld two key pieces of advice which would likely provide the actual costings of the policy.

“We all want to make education to be more affordable for parents but that process requires transparency and robust costings so that education priorities can be properly weighed up.”

Source: National Party – Headline: Unions again hold weak Government to ransom

The unions are clearly taking the new Labour-led Government for a ride with yet another strike underway today led by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, National Party MPs Michael Woodhouse and Jami-Lee Ross say.

“We are seeing another union power grab with strike action at Lyttelton Port from midnight last night. The culprit is again the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, the same Union behind the extremely disruptive train and bus strikes in Auckland,” Workplace Relations Spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says.

“This strike has the potential to be particularly significant, with warnings that it may shut down the port and that if it continues past a week, shortages of some critical supplies will begin to occur affecting thousands of people and businesses.

“This is not good enough. With union demands increasing at an alarming rate, these strikes are starting to become more common. This is now the fifth major strike within the first four months of a Labour-led Government.

“The unions know that the more disruption they cause, the more likely they are to force the Government to side with their excessive demands.

“I doubt this is the last time our transport industries will be held to ransom by unions. New Zealanders who rely on coastal transport need certainty of service, not strikes,” National Party Transport Spokesperson Jami-Lee Ross says.

“The transport sector is bearing the brunt of unions flexing their muscles with the new Government.

“Whether it’s commuters or exporters, they are all being inconvenienced by the Rail and Maritime Transport Union’s actions. 

“Strike action will only get worse when Labour’s pro-union law changes take effect later this year,” Mr Woodhouse says.