In Focus: 6 November 2015

Hon Jo Goodhew
MP for Rangitata
Visiting the A&P Shows

A&P shows offer a great opportunity for me to connect with farmers, farming families and rural servicing businesses. This year’s Ashburton A&P Show last Friday and Saturday was again a worthwhile and valuable chance for me to talk with both those who make their living from agriculture and those from urban areas who visit the show.

Next week I will spend a day at the Canterbury A&P Show, partly in my capacity as Associate Minister for Primary Industries, but also as one of National’s Canterbury MPs.

Farming always brings with it challenges that vary from droughts to floods, high prices to low and a raft of others along the way. Those making their living from the land tend to be resilient and work hard at planning ahead to meet whatever comes.

Whilst the A&P shows are a great celebration of the best in farming, it was also good to see Rural Support Trust representatives there as a reminder that if farming families are feeling stressed and need a listening ear or guidance, help is available.

Strong uptake of Health Star Ratings continues

I am really pleased the latest figures showing more than 600 products with Health Star Ratings are on supermarket shelves.

Over half the products on shelves with the Health Star Rating labels are the supermarket’s own-brand products. This shows strong support from both manufacturers and retailers for this labelling system.

This initiative is one of the ways we are working with the food industry to improve food labelling and make healthy choices easier for consumers.

Our two major supermarket owners, Foodstuffs and Progressives, are beginning to display the ratings on their bulk food bins, and over 500 of their own brand products will be carrying the ratings by the end of the year.

Last month members of the New Zealand Beverage Council agreed to phase in the rating system as they update their labels. This will impact on more than 95 per cent of all juice and non-alcoholic beverages sold in New Zealand.

The food industry has an important role to play in the government’s plan to reduce childhood obesity. As a result of this rating system businesses are looking more carefully at their recipes to see where there is room to reformulate and improve the nutritional content.

The Health Star Rating system is a voluntary labelling system using a star rating scale of ½ to 5 stars to help people choose the healthiest item when comparing similar packaged foods, such as breakfast cereals. The system is not designed to compare items across different product ranges, for example breakfast cereals and yoghurt.

For further information about the Health Star Rating system can be foundon the Food Smart website, and information about the Childhood Obesity Plan can be found at www.health.govt.nz.

Education Act update

Public consultation on the Government’s revamp of the Education Act is now open and I encourage anyone with an interest in the future of our education system to submit their views.

The Education Act informs the direction of New Zealand’s education, this update to the Act will make a real difference to the schooling of kiwi kids.

The current Act is 26 years old and focusses heavily on administration and compliance. So here is an opportunity to redesign the Act to centre on student achievement in the 21st century.

The proposed update draws on the recommendations of the Taskforce on Regulations Affecting School Performance which reported in 2014 that the Act focused on structures and administration.

We are fortunate to have many effective teachers and learning institutions in our electorate. I hope the community will have their say during this consultation process so we may continue local educational success.

The consultation process runs until December 14.
Click here for more information about the consultation process and making a submission.

Four tonnes of tobacco abandoned at airports

Over four tonnes of tobacco was abandoned at airports in the year since the duty free limits were dropped on 1 November 2014.

Passengers choosing not to pay duty dumped almost 3.8 tonnes of tobacco – almost enough to fill a 20 foot shipping container – in Customs bins at international airports.

Travellers have got the message. Almost 500kg of tobacco per month was abandoned in the first months after the lower limit came into effect, but in September this year just over 250kg was left at airports.

The duty free change is deterring travellers from bringing tobacco through the border – this contributes to reducing the harm caused by smoking and the Government’s goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.

Hundreds of kilograms of tobacco sent by mail also end up as unclaimed cargo if importers don’t pay the duty. This all adds to the significant quantity of tobacco that Customs destroys on a regular basis.

The current duty free limit is 50 cigarettes or 50 grams for arriving passengers, and no gift allowance for tobacco sent by mail.

Customs recorded around 10,100 transactions for people who chose to pay duty, with the total revenue collected in the year adding to $1.62 million.

ACC funding a campaign to prevent child driveway deaths

ACC will invest $300,000 in the Safekids’ driveway safety campaign to help reduce child driveway deaths and injuries in New Zealand
On average, five children are killed every year, and every fortnight a child is hospitalised with a significant injury after being hit by a vehicle on a driveway.

The “Check For Me Before You Turn The Key” campaign will focus on reminding parents and family members to walk around their car and check their children are in a safe place before they start driving.

Upcoming Events

Nov 10 – 12: Parliament sitting
Nov 12: attend Canterbury A&P Show
Nov 13: open GMP DairyNZ Food Safety College, Auckland
Nov 15: attend Armistice Day & 100 years of Red Cross service, Ashburton
Nov 16: speak at Volunteering NZ conference, Wellington
Nov 17 – 19: Parliament sitting
Nov 25: attend White Ribbon events, Ashburton & Timaru

Jo Goodhew
MP for Rangitata

ends

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