Welcome to April!  Only 6 months until the general election. We have been busy reaching out to the Whangarei electorate, connecting with communities and supporting our Northern National Party Candidates.  Angee Nicholas, CANDIDATE FOR TE ATATŪ, and National Party members at the Pasifika Festival in Auckland.

We also held the first “Hour with an MP” in my office. Thanks to Stephanie McMillan for organising the meeting. The next session will be Friday May 5 from 12noon – 1pm. Please bring friends and neighbours as well.

March was another month of political surprises. MP Stuart Nash has raised many problems for the Labour government and the inquiry into his actions will be most interesting and the corrosiveness will go on for a long time. Mistake or deliberate – what do you think!

The local Labour MP decided the grass was greener elsewhere. It always goes bad for an MP when after only one term they leave for something better and we have already heard local comments to that effect. Mind you, amongst other things it was always going to be hard to defend her stated position “we don’t need a new highway”, especially after Gabrielle.

LOCAL SURVEY

This month we have delivered 10,000 surveys into Onerahi, Tikipunga, Kamo and Kensington. Over Easter (as I write this) we had 3 letter box dropping teams also deliver into the Avenues and Ngunguru. As well as profile for the National Party we are asking very important local questions such as: What is the single most important issue to you – Cost of Living, Hospital Wait Lists, Ram Raids/Crime, Four Lanes, Education, Co-governance? We care and fight for what matters to local people and so it is important that we hear what the electorate wants. I will have the results for the next newsletter.

LIST RANKING SATURDAY APRIL 22^ND 3PM DICKENS INN – MEMBERS ONLY

The last list ranking in Whangarei in 2020 was standing room only. This is an opportunity to see all of the new northern region candidates and hear them speak for 5 minutes and take questions. These people will be new National Party MPs and it is one of the privileges of membership that through your executive you can indicate how you would rank them for list ranking purposes. A reminder that it is a privilege for members only so please renew your membership. This can be done at the office with our EFTPos between 9am- 2pm each day, or online at this link https://my.national.org.nz. We will also have membership renewal at the door

POLICY

We have started rolling out our policy with very good reception. Three Waters Done Well – the alternative to Three Waters without co-governance. Teaching the basics brilliantly – an hour a day for reading, writing and maths. Family Boost for the most vulnerable. We always wanted to control our own policy agenda because as you all know, good policies brought out too early in campaign year are just taken up by the government of the day.

Northern Advocate Back to Basics Brilliantly

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/dr-shane-reti-education-has-the-power-to-change-lives/2ZP6I53HJRF6DMDV6HIF6SEC24/

The facts for why Whangarei Police counter should be open 24/7

https://www.facebook.com/DrShaneRetiMP/posts/pfbid02gymc7rrA4YzR6cAFnpzudo9YtsUmDL6CYGXUAW7gwHYwcqp1WNTHLpthZoeAUQmjl?__cft__[0]=AZWrHRCqlrQ3CHqGIVwa_N3K4h1-5bdqnWMtgpHoiyMS4i1robCm8lRWmfrfirbqOAoR0u48hgPwXtVrl9kE5l1JaJd7ipuut_q5RtngqRAmEP8h10_mdONMZ1I3dGG9uRiB_PI1ymA34O65tLah93vF7KNIGmCJqSf0hVxH2JLd7ZzQv-wXlC-DXlc1_QqHQ1Q&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

CAMPAIGN 2023

Campaign Fighting Fund

We will need your help to get Labour out of Whangarei and out of office. We don’t want to fall short because we didn’t have the funds to compete as hard as we can. We are asking you to pull on a jersey and help us build the local campaign fighting fund that we will need. Stop in to the office between 9 am and 2pm each day and use our EFTPos machine and we can make a difference.

Volunteers

We have 25 volunteers who have signed up to help us with the campaign. Email us or call the office and join our volunteer army with whatever you can do. Labour had a strong ground game in Whangarei last time and I am confident that we can turn them around at the gate but we will need your help.