As winter is drawing near, I encourage you to get a flu jab.  It’s free for people over 65 and under 65 with chronic conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, asthma, kidney disease or cancer.  Also, pregnant women, severely obese people and kids between six months and five years old  who are living in poverty and enrolled in specific practices can be vaccinated free of charge this year.  Please contact your GP for more details.

More than 30,000 students are truant from state and state-integrated schools on any given day, an Education Ministry truancy survey shows.

National is determined to get tough on truancy, and we have doubled the funding to tackle the problem. An additional $4 million a year will help schools introduce stronger and more proactive measures to reduce truancy.

Among the initiatives that we are extending are electronic attendance registers, enabling schools to quickly identify casual truants before they become regular truants; text messaging parents whose children are missing from school without explanation; reducing the time it takes to get non-enrolled students back into school; and helping schools prosecute parents of persistent truants.

Work will continue on our long-term approach, aimed at keeping more children engaged at school, rather than having to get truants back into the system.

More information:

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/getting+tough+truancy

The proposal from the North East Secondary Education Group investigating Secondary School needs in North East Christchurch has been completed. I am happy to send a copy to anyone who may want one. Just email me at aaron.gilmore@parliament.govt.nz  For a summary of the proposal please click here. For a copy of the feedback form click here.

This proposal has arisen following a petition by 3,664 people seeking an investigation into the issue. This proposal and the petition itself will be submitted to Parliament in June and given a general release at that time.

This is proposal covers an issue that has created significant interest in our community and it is one that I invite people to comment on and I look forward to reading them.

National is giving priority to measures aimed at young drivers and drunk and drugged motorists outlined in a 10-year strategy to make our roads safer.

The strategy – Safer Journeys – was released this week and is designed to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads over the next decade.

It takes a system-wide approach by looking at the safety of roads, road users, vehicles, and speed.

A disproportionate number of young New Zealanders die on our roads – young Kiwis have a 60 per cent higher fatality rate on the roads than young Australians. Alcohol is a factor in almost one in three fatal crashes, and current policies are not having a big enough impact.

Over the next two months Cabinet will consider action plans which include raising the driving age to 16, zero blood-alcohol limits for young drivers and repeat drink drivers, and introducing alcohol interlock technology.

Other strategies indentified as priorities by the Government include motorcycling, making changes to our give way rules, and safer speeds.

More information:

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/safer+journeys+making+our+roads+safer+0

http://www.transport.govt.nz/saferjourneys/Pages/default.aspx

The National Infrastructure Plan shows the major investment this Government is making in New Zealand’s critical infrastructure such as roads, broadband, and schools.

This is directly supporting thousands of jobs, and unclogging the country’s economic arteries. A stronger economy will, over time, mean better wages and higher living standards for New Zealand families. It also gives local councils, contractors, and businesses certainty for the future.

The first National Infrastructure Plan, issued this week, provides a snapshot of public and private infrastructure, planned investment, and the Government’s priorities. It shows this Government is spending more than $6 billion a year on expanding and maintaining its physical assets and that it holds about $110 billion of such assets.

We are investing $10.7 billion in State Highways over the next 10 years, $3.3 billion in our electricity grid over the next five years, and $1.5 billion in urban broadband over the next decade. Then there is the $2.7 billion for new schools and buildings over the next five years.

The plan also identifies bottlenecks and gaps in the future so we can address them in a timely manner.

More information:

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/infrastructure+plan+outlines+large+programme

A new Government-funded research centre, launched this week, will allow New Zealand to lead the world in curbing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

We are investing $5 million a year over 10 years in the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, based in Palmerston North.

Feeding the world’s growing population, while keeping a lid on emissions to fight climate change, is one of the defining challenges of the early 21st century. As a leader in agricultural science, New Zealand is well-placed to meet that challenge head-on.

In addition to funding the centre, the first meeting of the New Zealand-led Global Research Alliance of more than 20 countries will be held here next month (April).

More information:

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pm+opens+agricultural+greenhouse+gas+research+centre

National is committed to lifting economic growth, and securing a brighter future for all New Zealanders.

We are committed to maintaining New Zealand Superannuation payments linked to 66 per cent of the after-tax average wage, and keeping the age of eligibility for Superannuation at 65.

Future funding to secure this is locked into the National-led Government’s long-term spending path, and is reflected in all of the government’s accounts.

To continue paying Super far into the future, even though our population is getting older, we need a healthy, growing economy.

Only a government which has debt under control will be able to continue paying for Superannuation, as well as health care, law and order, and education, into the future.

That’s why we want to encourage more investment, savings and exports and have less borrowing and consumption.

A key part of New Zealand’s economy is our tax system.

Last year, we asked an expert, independent team called the Tax Working Group to look at the tax system. Their advice was that the mix of taxes in New Zealand does not promote the kind of growth we need.

We want taxes that create incentives to work hard, save, and get ahead. We also want taxes that are fair.

That’s why National is considering personal tax cuts across the board. And that’s why we are also carefully considering a modest increase in GST, to no more than 15 per cent.

We know that a rise in GST would have an impact on lower and middle income New Zealanders. For that reason, any increase would be accompanied by reductions in personal taxes, as well as up-front increases in benefits, Superannuation, and Working for Families payments.

Superannuitants would receive a double benefit from these changes. The first is that a personal income tax cut would affect Super payments, as well as other income such as interest or dividends.

The second benefit would be an immediate increase in Super payments to cover the higher prices caused by raising GST. This would be in addition to tax cuts, and would take effect the same day that GST went up.

National believes that a tax switch would encourage savings and investment, help boost economic performance, and give young New Zealanders a reason to stay here instead of going overseas.

We are committed to securing a brighter future for all New Zealanders. Our tax system will play a crucial part in that future, and we are determined to get it right.

The changes in Resident Withholding Tax (RWT) rates are not an increase in tax. They ensure that the tax people pay throughout the year is aligned with their actual income tax rate, so that people are less likely to face tax bills at the end of the year.

RWT is not a separate or additional tax on income. At the time that a bank or a financial institution pays interest income to a person, they withhold tax on that interest, and the tax is then transferred to Inland Revenue. Inland Revenue then credits the tax towards the person’s actual tax liability on their total income. By aligning the RWT rate with a person’s actual income tax rate, it helps ensure that people do not face tax bills at the end of the year.

Currently (before 1 April 2010), the RWT rates are 19.5 per cent, 33 per cent, and either 38 per cent, or 39 per cent.

Tax cuts to personal income tax rates were made in 2008 and 2009. At the time, the RWT rates were not adjusted to align with the new income tax rates because banks needed more time to change their banking systems. Instead, the changes to the RWT rates were delayed until 1 April 2010 to give banks and financial institutions time to make the changes. The new RWT rates that will take effect on 1 April are 12.5 per cent, 21 per cent, 33 per cent, and 38 per cent. These accurately align RWT rates with the actual income tax rates for all taxpayers.

Having a 21 per cent RWT rate for people earning between $14,000 and $48,000 instead of a 19.5 per cent rate will reduce the likelihood that those people will receive an end-of-year tax bill, because they will be paying the correct proportion of tax on their interest income during the year.