The Indian Weekender, September 25, 2020

The Indian Weekender Friday, September 25, 2020
NEW ZEALAND 9
CHANGE YOUR FUTURE WITH ACT
This election New Zealanders have an
important choice to make about their
futures.
ACT has a bold vision for a freer, more
prosperous New Zealand. A New Zealand where
businesses and workers’ pay less tax and are
free to earn a greater share of the rewards from
their efforts.Where the next generation is free to
build houses. Where we take a modern approach
to funding and operating infrastructure. Where
businesses and innovators are not held back by
crippling regulation.
Covid-19 has changed the way we go about our
lives and the way we do business. That doesn’t
mean we should let it change the futures of our
children and grandchildren by leaving them a
mountain of debt that they will have to pay back
through taxes. That’s what the other political
parties want to do, borrow and hope for the best.
Only a vote for ACT will ensure the other
political parties are held to account. We will
challenge them to keep taxes and household costs
low. We will support small businesses to thrive
and ensure there is a strong economy.
ACT has a fully costed plan to get back to
surplus and start repaying the debt now.
We will pass laws that directly help small
businesses including reducing GST for 12
months, bringing back 90 day trial periods so
business owners can have the confidence they’re
hiring the right people to fit their business and
putting a three year halt on increasing the
minimum wage. Business owners know more
about the economy than any economist. We will
support small businesses to do the best they can
in these difficult times.
For the past six years I have proudly
represented the people of Epsom and the ACT
Party in Parliament. Many of my constituents
are hardworking Indian New Zealanders. New
Zealand is a nation of immigrants. Openness to
newcomers is part of our national DNA.
Today, many of our businesses and public
services either couldn’t function, or would be
much poorer, without the migration of new
people and new ideas.
A question I receive a lot is about our position on
the Parent Category visa. I know how important
this issue is to your community and it’s something
I have fought hard for. As the MP for Epsom, I
have seen a large number of families separated
by the suspension of the Parent Category. These
are good people making a contribution to New
Zealand who just want to be a family. We know
that most people are prepared to pay their own
way if it means being with their families. By not
addressing this we risk losing skilled migrants
and people who have become important members
of our communities because they don’t want to be
separated from their families.
After the Christchurch tragedy, the
Government very compassionately created a new
immigration category for the families of victims.
That was the right thing to do, but it raises
the question: why not help the thousands of
families divided by the suspension of the Parent
Category?
The ACT Party will fight for freedom of
speech, freedom of choice and less Government
interference in your life. With more MPs we will
ensure that we protect your freedoms. Only a
vote for ACT will change your future.
PM Ardern unveils a memorial plaque of
Christchurch attacks’ victims at Al Noor mosque
RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday, September
24 visited the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch to unveil
a plaque created in honour of the 51 victims died in the
mosque attacks on March 15, 2019.
PM Ardern was greeted and welcomed at the mosque
by Muslims community members along with
Dr Megan Woods, Mayor Lianne Dalziel,
Imam Gama Fouda and newly elected
FIANZ president Ibrar Sheikh.
Speaking at the event, PM Ardern
expressed her happiness being
there finally after this event was
postponed twice earlier this year.
Ms Ardern was earlier scheduled
to unveil the plaque in March this
year on the first anniversary of the
attacks but was postponed due to the
first wave of Covid lockdown across
the country, and it was postponed again
in August this year due to the lockdowns
of the second wave of Covid.
She later unveiled the plaque on the ground of
Al Noor mosque that read ‘In memory of the 51 Shuhadah
(martyrs) who lost their lives on March 15 2019’ with a further
inscription of a verse from the Quran that translates ‘We surely
belong to Allah and to Him we shall return’.
Imam Fouda added that unveiling of the plaque was one
of his last wishes and is meant to strengthen the community
remembering those dark weeks after the attack.
Imam Fouda addressing the community members, guests
before the unveiling of the plaque, said the plaque has a greater
significance for the community- it should be considered as a
model for peace.
PM Ardern called the day of attack one of the darkest days
in New Zealand’s history that will have a permanent scar in the
hearts of New Zealanders and the Muslim community at home
and around the globe.
“Community members narrated some of the harrowing
experiences in the aftermath of the incident and thanked
the police, the justice system and Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern’s empathetic response for the victims and the Muslim
community,” Mohammed Khursheed Jahangir, brother of
injured victim Ahmed Jahangir told The Indian Weekender.
Founder of the Al Noor mosque that opened its doors in 1985
told the story of the beginning of the mosque and the minuscule
number of Muslims in Canterbury at that point of time and how
the mosque has become one of the most significant figures of
hope and peace in the world.
Earlier last month, after a four-day sentencing hearing in the
High Court in Christchurch, Australian Brenton Tarrant, 29, a
‘labelled terrorist entity’ and was sentenced to spend the rest of
his life in prison with no chance of parole.
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