Wedd's Weekly

And happy Māori Language Week!

I’m joining New Zealanders across the country in celebrating this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

This week also marks 131 years since NZ made history as the first country in the world to give women the right to vote!

Suffrage Day is a time we honour the bravery of those who fought for change and building a more equal future for all.

As the 194th female MP to enter Parliament I am a passionate advocate for Women and increasing women’s representation in leadership and ensuring every woman in New Zealand has the opportunity to thrive.

I am the chair of New Zealand’s Parliamentarian Population and Development Group and this week I was honoured to launch the UNFPA State of the World Population report.

These last couple of weeks have also been busy out and about across the electorate.

I visited a petfood factory, a specialist mushroom grower, experienced Manuka honey specialists, Tree Guys, and a school. I also attended the Onam festival, a Taekwondo medal ceremony, and a 100th birthday celebration. And had meetings with many constituents.

I learn a lot from these visits, so I can advocate for our Tukituki community.

It was great to visit Te Mata Mushrooms and learn all about how Callum is reinventing the business with a new variety of mushrooms which have no smell.

He saw an opportunity, took the risk and is now keen to grow the business into a nationwide brand once again. I was really interested in the process of growing mushrooms and his innovative plans for the business.

I dropped in to honey exporting business, Melita Honey and learnt about honey exports and the opportunity for Manuka honey in markets around the world.

Lars and his team at Melita Honey are working hard to add value to the delicious Manuka Honey produced on farms across New Zealand. I love seeing the amazing products we produce here in Hawke’s Bay.

I was so impressed by our inclusive NZ ITF Taekwon-Do team in Hastings and was honoured to be part of a recent achievement performance and ceremony.

Congratulations to Chrystal Gray and Alisa Lythgoe, who were officially presented with their 1st Dan Black Belts!

It was amazing to see this success and inclusive Taekwondo.

Well done to Ben and his team for making this all possible and for my very own Taekwondo-Do lesson!

ZIWI Pets is adding value to meat products from across NZ, by creating premium petfood in Hawke’s Bay and exporting it to the world!

It’s an amazing business which recently won Hawke’s Bay Exporter of the year - so I paid them a visit and was so impressed at how quickly they have rebuilt their factory, following Cyclone Gabrielle.

Congratulations to the Ziwi Team who are doing an amazing job.

Our government is backing our Kiwi exporters as we aim to double the value of our exports in the next 10 years, which will help us strengthen our economy.

Two celebrations were rolled into one when I visited Tree Guys in Otane who were celebrating being in business for 30 years and their 25th wedding anniversary.

Owners and operators Jack and Kathy Ritchie are a lovely couple, and they showed me around the nursery which grows a wide range of plants from native groundcovers, hedging, flaxes, mosses, shrubs, trees, and grasses to a selection of deciduous shelter trees.

I love visiting family owned businesses and seeing all the hard work and passion.

I was honoured to be part of Millicent Wiggins 100th birthday celebrations. Millicent was so happy to receive her letter from the King, Prime Minister and the personal delivery of flowers from her local MP!

I loved learning about her times living on the farm in Dannevirke and how Weber was named after her father.

Very special to see 100 candles shining brightly for a very special lady.

It was a privilege to be invited to the Kerala Cultural Community Onam Festival and celebrate their 10-year anniversary here in Hastings.

Onam is the annual harvest festival in Kerala, and it was very special to share this tradition. My little Charlie came along, and we enjoyed the performances and feast together with so many other lovely families.

Congratulations to Kerala Cultural Community - KCC Hawke's Bay Incorporated on organising such an amazing event!

It was awesome to spend some time with the team at the Te Wai Mauri nursery at Waiohiki Marae.

They grow and supply native plants for riparian and wetland planting, restoration, and native landscaping across NZ.

Waiohiki was flooded in Cyclone Gabrielle and the marae and community was an incredible support for everyone, so it was good to see the development and building works while I visited.

A big shout out to the Waiohiki community for all the mahi and aroha during these tough times.

I loved visiting Mr G, the principal at Parkvale School. He is retiring at the end of next term after 23 years at the school. He is a true legend, and it was clear to see how much the kids loved him.

There is no escaping Mr G’s legacy at Parkvale School, as we discovered, he features on many of the buildings around the school in all the amazing artwork.

It was so good hearing all about his experiences and aspirations for education …. Well done to you and your team for all you do.

Amazing to see our Hawke’s Bay Hospitality industry recognised at the Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Awards!

It’s been a tough few years with Covid and Cyclone Gabrielle and the awards were all about celebrating the amazing people and businesses who make our region so incredible!

Congratulations to all the outstanding finalists and winners and special shout out to Mike Henley and his team at Cellar 495 - really putting Hastings on the Map and the Puketapu Hotel for taking out the People’s Choice Award - after being flooded from Cyclone Gabrielle this amazing team has rebuilt and is bringing community together.

Acknowledge our Tukituki Winners please – black barn, craggy range, piku and funbuns

I was invited to be a guest speaker at a community event in Flaxmere to encourage people to volunteer at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison. This was hosted and organised by Hastings ambassador Henare O’Keefe and I enjoyed catching up with Corrections and others making a positive difference in our community. It was a great opportunity to look at rehabilitation and the work needed to help turn lives around and set people on positive pathways.

Our government is backing provincial NZ! I loved visiting Nelson with our amazing National Party Representative Blair Cameron- visiting King Salmon and seeing the huge opportunity for growth in our Aquaculture Sector and the Waimea Dam which is opening up so much economic potential and opportunity for the region.

As a mother of four school-aged children, I am passionate about education and structured literacy, which will be taught in schools from Term 1 2025 and is a proven programme to increase the literacy rates among our kids.

We recently announced more resourcing for structured literacy. From 1 October, schools and kura with Years 0-3 will receive up to $5000 per year over the next four years to support them buying structured literacy resources.

Funding will be allocated to schools dependent on their roll size.

This week registration for Family Boost opened, so low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs.

The scheme was introduced as part of our Government’s tax relief plan to help hardworking kiwi parents pay their childcare costs.

Under the FamilyBoost scheme, eligible families earning up to $180,000 will be able to claim up to 25 per cent of weekly childcare fees up to a maximum of $975 every three months.

People can register via Inland Revenue’s online system, myIR.

www.ird.govt.nz/familyboost.

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I look forward to seeing you out in our Tukituki community soon.

Regards, Catherine