Electorate draws political visitors

PM gets a warm welcome — and a look at our licorice

In July we had four Ministers visit the Otaki electorate, including Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. It was a privilege to host the Prime Minister. We were welcomed by Raukawa Marae in Ō taki where we discussed the awesome work the community had done in terms of their Covid response. Big shout out to the rangatahi of Ōtaki who represented their kura with awesome kō rero and waiata. Then we were off to RJ’s Confectionery, a significant employer and contributor to the community here in Levin.

It was great to be able to show our Prime Minister how this delicious and iconic licorice is produced.

The new Associate Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, stopped in to Horowhenua District Council and Kāpiti Coast District Council as a part of a series of visits to rural and provincial councils across the motu. The Kāpiti Coast councillors asked the new associate minister his first question around climate change issues within local government. The visit was a chance for McAnulty to listen to the rural and provincial councils, and continue the work of his colleagues in engaging with rural New Zealand.

Minister for Economic and Regional Development Stuart Nash was in Levin to announce the $1.75 million of regional development support to Techlam NZ. Techlam NZ is a company in Levin that manufactures sustainable timber. The $1.75 million will enable it to produce and install machinery for reducing manufacturing landfill by up to 25 per cent, and capturing off-cut timber pieces for converting into heat energy.

We also had Housing Minister Megan Woods at the Ōtaki-Mā ori Racing Club where she announced the first seven centres to receive government housing infrastructure funding. This

funding enables more than 8000 new homes to be built with 1000 papakainga, affordable and market housing flagged for Ō taki. This is an awesome collaboration between Nga Hapu o Ō taki, Kāpiti Coast District Council and private developers.

Our new Cost of Living Payment started from August 1, and supports more than two million New Zealanders, including many here in Horowhenua. You will likely be eligible if you earned $70,000 or less over the period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, and are aged 18 or older, but are not eligible for the Winter Energy Payment.

There’s nothing you need to do to apply for the payment, and the income threshold is based on your individual income, not household income. If you’re eligible, you receive the payments directly from IRD. However, IRD does need your correct information, so please take a few minutes to make sure everything is up to date. You can visit IRD’s website for more details: ird. govt.nz/cost-of-livingpayment.

This new Cost of Living Payment sits alongside our Winter Energy Payment, and, when taken together, these payments will support 81 per cent of New Zealanders aged 18 and over with their bills.

We recently extended the fuel tax cut, reduced road user charges and half-price public transport for everyone until the end of January. We’re also fixing the supermarket sector and increasing competition, to make sure that Kiwis pay a fair price at the till.