Flurry of MP visits to North Canterbury

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

Policing, local government, education and immigration have been the focus of visits from the nation’s leaders to Rangiora, Kaikōura and Kaiapoi over the last two weeks.

The most notable visit was by new Police Minister Chris Hipkins, who visited police in Rangiora and Kaikōura as part of his nationwide tour.
‘‘We’ve talked about everything from gang crime to stock rustling to mental health,’’ Hipkins said.

‘‘Our police do a tough job, and we’re fortunate to have such a grounded and committed group working to keep us all safe.’’

New Associate Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty made Waimakariri his first stop last week, in a series of visits around the country.

Mayor Dan Gordon said topics discussed included last year’s floods, advocacy for lifestylers, transport projects such as the Woodend Bypass, Skew Bridge and Southbrook, racing and Three Waters reform.

‘‘We found him to be very interested in the work we are doing here in the Waimakariri district and he listened as we outlined our concerns, particularly around Three Waters and transport.’’

Gordon hoped to host McAnulty again on a visit to learn more about the council’s Civil Defence Cadet programme - a first in New Zealand.

Kaiapoi North School has been the focus of two MP visits, as its structured literacy programme captures national attention.

Opposition Education and Immigration Spokesperson Erica Stanford was in Kaiapoi on July 1, and met with Kaiapoi North School principal Jason Miles.

Her visit was followed by Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti, who came to observe the structured literacy programme first-hand last week.

Stanford said the Government had been ‘‘very late to the party’’ and she wanted structured literacy rolled out to schools throughout the country.

‘‘It goes right back to early childhood education and even learning at home, so we are looking at what we can do to change these outcomes.’’

She was also concerned with school attendance rates, which dropped back to 60% last year in the wake of Covid-19.

The Government recently announced a new strategy, aiming to improve attendance to 75% of children attending school regularly by 2026.

But Stanford said the Government needed to do better.

‘‘We can see schools in similar deciles and ethnic make-ups getting very different results, so how we learn from those that are succeeding?’’

Stanford also met with local businesses, discussing their challenges with recruiting staff and attracting migrants.

While airfares were expensive and even getting flights could be a challenge, Stanford said there were ways of simplifying the process of assisting businesses to attract migrant workers.

One option was issuing short-term residency Visas for new migrants on arrival in particular areas of skills shortages such as nurses or farm workers.