New portfolios
It was a great honour to be promoted into Cabinet following the election last year by Prime Minister John Key.
As well as being the local MP for Otaki, I’m now also the Minister of Immigration, Racing, Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of Primary Industries.
Immigration is obviously a very important and challenging issue for New Zealand, making sure we have the right people coming in and out of the country.
A big focus is bringing in migrants who can help grow the economy and create jobs. The first priority is always jobs for New Zealanders, but in some industries we just don’t have enough people with the right skills. This is where immigration can help – at a local level this is particularly noticeable in the aged care industry.
The rebuild of Christchurch will be another good example of this. Obviously this will create a huge amount of work for New Zealanders, particularly tradespeople, but we will definitely need some overseas workers to help get Canterbury back on its feet as quickly as possible.
Overall, migrants contribute around $1.9 billion a year to the economy. Tourism contributes $5 billion and foreigners coming to study here contribute around $1.8 billion.
Racing is an interesting portfolio. I’ve spent a few days recently attending racing events in Auckland and Wellington, meeting people involved in the industry and hearing their views.
A recent study found that racing contributes almost 18,000 direct and indirect jobs to the economy, and has a turnover of around $1.6 billion. We also have lots of passionate members at racing clubs like Foxton, Otaki and Levin’s training track.
However these numbers are in decline, and the industry needs to work together to attract more people back to the races.
I’m also looking forward to the Veterans Affairs portfolio. It’s very important we recognise those who have served New Zealand, often putting their lives in danger on our behalf.
There are a number of important anniversaries and ceremonies coming up in Europe over the next few years to which we will be sending WWII veterans.
As a farmer myself, I’m looking forward to working as an Associate Minister of the Primary Industries portfolio, which includes agriculture, fisheries, forestry and biosecurity.
This is the engine room of our economy, making up two thirds of our exports. New Zealand is a world leader in this area but we need to keep improving our productivity, using new technology and balancing this with good environmental practices.
While it’s a busy workload, working hard as the local MP for Otaki is still very important to me. I’m proud of the progress our region has made over the last few years and I want to keep us moving forward.
I’m looking forward to another exciting three years.