Selwyn_Times: July 12, 2023

14 Selwyn Times Wednesday July 12 2023
Hi everyone,
As your local MP, I wanted to write to update you on the state of the Government’s finances, and National’s alternate plans for
our country.
I know that life is tough out there for many. The cost-of-living crisis is now dragging into its third year, and economic
mismanagement has driven New Zealand into recession.
Interest rates have risen so fast that a ticking time bomb lies in front of us. In the months ahead, hundreds of thousands of
mortgage holders will have to move off a home loan with a 2 or 3 per cent interest rate to a loan with 6 or 7 per cent interest. When
that mortgage bomb goes off, the whole economy will shudder – and many families here in Selwyn will be directly impacted.
The Government’s books are going backwards – spending is up 80 per cent since Labour took office in 2017 and net debt has
increased from $6 billion pre pandemic to around $71 billion today.
The great shame is that there’s so little to show for this increased debt – we have potholes all over the roads, declining school
attendance and achievement, growing health waiting lists, and escalating violent crime.
Billions of dollars have been wasted on consultants, centralisation, and ideological projects instead of bolstering the frontline
services we need like more nurses, doctors and midwives, and ensuring our police are well resourced.
It’s time for the excuses to stop. New Zealand needs solutions to fix our broken economy and to help you get ahead once more.
Most of all, what our country needs right now is hope. That’s what National will deliver.
National’s plan to fix the economy will address the cost of living, lift incomes, and improve the services that we all rely on.
We will index tax brackets to inflation – giving the average earner an extra $960 in the pocket every year. Our commitment to
reducing taxes means Superannuation will go up faster too, and we will keep the winter energy payment.
We have already announced our plan to reduce the health workforce shortage by helping pay nurse and midwifery student
loans for those who stay in New Zealand for five years after graduating. We will build a new medical school and we will graduate
another 220 doctors a year, as well as filling shortages immediately by making it easier for migrant nurses and midwives to
come and live here. We will also reduce waiting times for elective surgeries by bringing back the previously successful health
targets that Labour scrapped, and we’ll get rid of Labour’s instructions to prioritise surgery by ethnicity.
To all those parents across Selwyn; National will help those with pre-schoolers with a $75 per week rebate, as well as making
sure that every child has an opportunity to succeed by ensuring schools teach an hour each of reading, writing, and maths
every day, with full support for our wonderful teachers to do so.
We will scrap Labour’s undemocratic Three Waters plan in our first 100 days in office, return seized assets to local councils and
ensure the health of our water and the financial stability of water services with our own Local Water Done Well plan.
As your MP, my job is to help you. If there is anything that is keeping you awake at night, I’d like to hear from you. Whether you
are dealing with a personal issue, have concerns about the direction of the country, have queries about our policies, or just
need someone to listen, please do get in touch.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Nicola Grigg
MP for Selwyn
| Nicola.GriggMP@parliament.govt.nz
| 03 344 2800
| @NicolaGriggSelwyn
| @NicolaGriggMP
Read our policies here
www.national.org.nz/plan
NICOLA GRIGG
MP for Selwyn
Funded by the Parliamentary Service. Authorised by Nicola Grigg, 34/9 Masefield Drive, Rolleston.