Labour in the vanguard – street, that is
The Labour Party has set up its headquarters for the upcoming general election in Nelson, moving into a new campaign office in Vanguard St.
Social Development and Disabilities Issues Minister Carmel Sepuloni was one of about 50 people in attendance for the launch, which was officially marked with a blessing of the building.
At the opening, Labour candidate for Nelson Rachel Boyack reaffirmed her pledge to focus on providing housing and ending ‘‘sunshine wages’’ in the region.
Boyack stood in the 2017 general election in Nelson, where she finished second to seasoned sitting National MP Dr Nick Smith. Labour won the party vote, however, with 41.4 per cent of the vote.
She said there was an extra significance to the launch, as it had been decades since the Labour Party had established a campaign office in Nelson.
‘‘It shows that we’re here, and that we’re serious.’’
Sepuloni said while Nelson had been one of the hardest-hit areas by the Covid-19 lockdown, the implementation of the wage subsidy had made a real difference.
She said in a recent survey of 90,000 businesses that had taken the subsidy, 2000 had come from the Nelson region.
‘‘The overwhelming feedback was that because of the wage subsidy [businesses] didn’t have to lay people off. Only 6 per cent said yes to that, and only 6 per cent said they would still need to.
‘‘What we’re hoping is that businesses will be able to bounce back, where possible, and as quickly as possible.’’
As Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Sepuloni had also been involved the allocation of $175 million for the arts and creative sector, and $52m for the cultural sector in May’s budget.
Sepuloni said the arts sector had taken a big hit globally due to Covid-19, and was an important focus to support regions such as Nelson. ‘‘For communities like Nelson the arts is huge, we wanted to reinvigorate it as quickly as possible, which is why we’ve put so much money into it.
‘‘Artists haven’t been able to make money, they haven’t been able to perform. It’s not just our artists in terms of performing arts or painters, but also those working in places like galleries, libraries and museums.’’
Sepuloni said she was confident Labour could continue to grow its support in Nelson and win the candidate vote.
‘‘We’ve got a great candidate, and the swing towards Labour last time was pretty significant.’’