Collins joins leaderboard
National MP Judith Collins is on the country’s preferred prime minister board for the first time.
In a new poll by Newshub-Reid Research yesterday, the former Cabinet minister collected 3.7 percentage points as her party leader, Simon Bridges, was still struggling to get to double digits with 9 percentage points.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was still in the lead on 40.2 and soonto-be acting prime minister Winston Peters was on 4.6 percentage points.
As for any sort of significant post-Budget boost, Labour was out of luck, climbing only 0.3 percentage points to 42.6 – collected from its supply and confidence partner, the Green Party, which was down the same amount to 5.7.
Labour’s coalition partner, NZ First, fell 1.2 percentage points to 2.4, which wouldn’t see the party return to Parliament.
National was still comfortably at 45.1 – sitting a shift upwards of 0.6 percentage points.
In terms of Parliament seats, that would give Labour and the Greens 63 seats, while National – with the help of ACT – would pull in 59 seats.
Collins contested the party’s leadership against Bridges when National leader and former prime minister Bill English stood down earlier this year.
While Collins was understood to not have picked up a lot of the caucus vote in her leadership bid, she is well respected for her ability to play the Opposition game.
Just this last week she collected her first scalp when Ardern was left no choice but to strip Housing and Transport Minister Phil Twyford of his Civil Aviation Authority duties after Collins asked questions about whether he had answered his cellphone while a plane was taxiing.
Twyford admitted he didn’t recall the incident, which happened on Budget Day, until Collins raised it with him in written questions to Parliament. He offered his resignation, which was rejected.
The poll had a margin of error of 3.1 per cent. Vegetables grown behind the wire at Rimutaka Prison are being prepared by school students for families at Women’s Refuge.
The arrangement is coordinated by the Common Unity Project, a charity whose Urban Kai Network has people growing produce in backyards, community gardens and the country’s largest prison.
Co-ordinator Julia Milne said the relationship with Hutt City Women’s Refuge began after an Auckland charity asked people to stop donating tinned tomatoes. ‘‘It made us really consider ... what we could do to help women and children in refuge.’’
They decided prepared meals would help make stressful times a little easier.
The produce from Rimutaka is then turned into meals by students of Wa¯ Ora Montessori School.
Hutt City Women’s Refuge collected the first lot of creamy Thai pumpkin soup, and cauliflower and leek macaroni cheese last week – which refuge manager Philippa Wells said were well received.
The clients were made aware of where the food was grown and were often surprised but reactions had been positive, Wells said.
Murray Todd, Rimutaka Prison residential manager, said the inmates appreciated ‘‘the chance to make a positive contribution to the local community’’.
Since last December, 1475kg of fruit and vegetables had been harvested from the prison’s gardens. It was also used to feed others in the community or was sold to fund Common Unity’s projects.
Learning to grow food would help the men feed themselves and their families upon release, he said.
Wa¯ Ora Montessori principal Ava Szabo said her students were also using the programme as a learning experience.