I begin my remarks today by paying tribute to the 40,000 New Zealanders who, through no fault of their own, found themselves joining the unemployment benefit ranks last year—40,000 extra New Zealanders. They are real people who previously had real jobs. They have real families, real homes, and real mortgages.
Too often in this House when we talk about unemployment, we talk about numbers. We saw that with John Key last year, when he said that he was happy with the increase in unemployment rates last year given the economic conditions. I do not think that anybody should ever be happy with an increase in unemployment rates. Read the rest of this entry »
Labour’s big red “Axe the Tax” bus was warmly welcomed by the residents of Timberlea on Sunday in a clear sign the National-led government should re-think their proposed increase in GST, Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins says.
Labour says the Government urgently needs to fix the ‘Warm Up NZ’ Scheme, before New Zealanders lose confidence in it. Otago University researchers say the standard insulation upgrade is warming some homes in the deep south by less than half a degree, and that the scheme’s “one size fits all” approach is inadequate.
The National government is taking police cars off the streets of the Hutt Valley despite a rise in reported crime rates, Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins says.
The National government has given up another golden opportunity to promote New Zealand by wiping the iconic Rally of New Zealand off the national events calendar, Labour’s Sport and Recreation spokesperson Chris Hipkins says.
National’s poorly designed subsidies for home heating and insulation companies are putting people out of work, Labour’s Associate Energy spokesperson Chris Hipkins says.
The constant cuts to home help hours being pursued by the Hutt Valley DHB are short-sighted and will lead to more health problems and budget blow-outs in the future, warns Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee’s ordered removal of a blog criticising his proposed power sector reforms is further evidence he is struggling in his portfolios, Labour’s associate energy spokesman Chris Hipkins said.
There we have it! Max Bradford is back, and he looks a bit like Gerry Brownlee. Max Bradford would be very, very proud of the National Government today. It has picked up his failed tertiary education reforms, dusted them off, and passed them through the Committee stage of Parliament this afternoon. Now it has picked [...]
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