Two things you can do...
Hi [Name]
This week there are two things that you can do to help the Labour Party. First and foremost, you can help us win the Mana by-election by giving us a few hours of your time on Saturday. We need people on the ground to help us turn out the vote.
Labour candidate Kris Faafoi has been getting a great response, but to make sure he wins, we need to make sure everyone makes it to the polling booth. If you'd like to contribute, please contact Ginny Andersen on [Email].
The second thing that you can do is help us fill the war chest for next year's general election (and have some fun at the same time).
There are still tickets available for cruise around Wellington Harbour this Thursday at 6.30pm. Tickets are $50, which covers the cruise, drinks and a BBQ on board the boat. Flick me an email if you'd like to come. Tickets are selling fast so get in quick!
Chris Hipkins
MP for Rimutaka
Out and about in the electorate
Caption: Chris and Maryan Street with members of the South Sundanese Community of NZ outside Parliament after receiving a petition requesting the NZ government to support and assist election in South Sudan.
As always, I've been busy out and about in the electorate over the past few weeks.
As the school year begins to wind down I've attended Upper Hutt, Taita, Heretaunga and Naenae College prize-giving ceremonies. It's great to see students be rewarded for their excellence and hard-work. I've also recently visited Totara Park School and Oxford Crescent School.
Visits to the Aroha Rest Home in Taita and the Rimutaka Rugby Club have also kept me busy. Just in case you were beginning to wonder whether I get any time off, last weekend I took part in the Tour de Whitemans cycle race, a 100km ride that loops from Silverstream to Mangaroa three times.
Labour Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maryan Street and I also received a petition from the South Sudanese Community of NZ encouraging the NZ government to support and assist elections in South Sudan. It was a humbling opportunity to hear what life is like for people from our community who have family in places less fortunate than here.
We'll fight health cutbacks
I've recently heard that the National-led government is about to dump the Chair of the Hutt Valley DHB in favour of appointing a joint chairperson who will also head Capital and Coast health. Many will see this as a precursor to a full merger, something we should all be concerned about.
The National Party have been here before, back in the 1990s they tried to close Hutt Hospital completely! My neighbouring colleague Trevor Mallard and I have both pledged to fight any cutbacks to health services here in the Hutt Valley. The people of the Hutt Valley deserve better than more cutbacks!
Food prices go up
Fresh fruit and vegetable prices rose 4 percent in the last month alone, making Labour’s policy of removing all GST from these essentials all the more important.
Food prices overall have risen 5 per cent this year. Price increases are outstripping wage growth and National has no plan to deal with this.
John Key and Bill English say they’re just rebalancing the economy by putting up GST, but what they’re really doing is making life harder for low and middle income earners.
Labour knows just how tough the struggle is at the supermarket check-out and would remove GST from fresh fruit and vegetables to make it a little easier for Kiwi families to make ends meet.
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