I have really enjoyed getting to work as your MP for Mt Albert. The job is a window into many lives.
The job is a window into many lives. Each of the Mt Albert electorate's many communities, including its suburbs, face their own set of challenges. A big part of my job is to work towards solutions. The impacts of crime have been felt by many workers, businesses and community members. Recently, I took Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins to meet people and businesses in Pt Chevalier who have been impacted by crime. It was important to me that workers from the local supermarket got to meet him and share their experiences dealing with burglary.
I have been regularly meeting with local businesses throughout the electorate, both as their local MP and as the Labour Party's spokesperson for Small Business and Manufacturing. Small businesses are an incredibly important way that so many New Zealanders make their living. One thing I've heard and that I'm deeply concerned about is that small businesses often don't get to grow to their full potential. This might be because of a lack of affordable finance options or because often, just as small businesses take off, they get bought out or crowded out by bigger competitors.
This issue has long interested me. I'm passionate about finding ways to support small businesses and redress power imbalances they face at a central government level.
The previous Labour Government did some incredibly valuable work in the supermarket sector for smaller suppliers, but there is so much more that I think we can do when we acknowledge the reality of the power imbalance between smaller and larger businesses. Redressing power imbalances is at the heart of the Labour Party’s values and is often neglected by other political parties. People are better off when our markets are watched with vigilance.
I've been deeply concerned by the choices being made by the National-led Coalition Government to find the money for their unfunded tax cuts. Sometimes it seems astonishing and surreal. National told us that their promises were affordable and that they could balance the books by just cutting supposed ‘wasteful spending’. But let’s be clear – increasing the number of teachers, nurses, doctors and police we employ and the amount we pay them is not wasteful spending. And it’s certainly not wasteful spending to rebuild our schools and hospitals or our roads and water infrastructure.
My colleagues and I are hearing that most people do not consider the school lunch programme, which feeds our kids and makes a difference to their learning, to be wasteful spending. Nor do people agree that proper support for veterans or people with disabilities and those who care for them is a waste either. In fact, some of the Minister for Disability Issues’ comments have been insulting to people who devote their lives to providing support for members of our community.
I want to share that on Monday, 13 May at 6pm, at the Trades Hall (147 Great North Road), I am holding a public meeting with the Auckland City Missioner, Helen Robinson, on the high cost of poverty. I'm deeply concerned that funding for the incredibly important support NGOs provide might be cut in the budget at a critical time as we head into winter when the cost of living is high already and families face extra costs.
As always, please get in touch if there is anything I can do to support you, your community or your business. (HELEN WHITE)
helen.white@parliament.govt.nz
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Published: April 2024