CHESTER BORROWS MP for Whanganui

The Would-Be Lady of the Night

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:47:00 +1300

When things get tight, people do desperate things and last week we saw one ‘desperate’ woman advertise she had made a choice to become a prostitute rather than continue on her domestic purposes benefit, so she could study at University. But I wonder how desperate she really is.

It sounds very dramatic and she had posted the advertisements apparently but had yet to commence work in her new line of business. The Green Party thought the story was so politically useful they flew her down to Wellington from Auckland to get media attention and arrange a television interview to be screened that night.

Questions were asked in Parliament and then things started to crumble for the Greens new List MP Jan Logie. Firstly, Labour Party Jacinda Ardern blew the whistle by asking questions on the same point, effectively stealing the show. It all blew up in their faces as the facts came to light.

The mother of two children receives a benefit which amounts to the equivalent of a $43,000 wage. This does not include early children education funding for both children, it does not include money WINZ would loan for educational costs, it does not include hardship grants that would be available from time to time, and it does not include $4,000 towards fees and $1,000 course related costs.

As the Greens and the Labour Party have so strongly supported the integrity of the woman it follows she was not just going to turn a few ‘tricks’ to supplement her benefit because that would only allow her to earn $100 per week on top of her benefit after declaring her supplementary income. The obvious contention is that she would go off the benefit and work full time in the industry. Most people would find it very hard to believe that any mother of two children is forced give up the benefit to become a prostitute.

The comparison is frequently made between what money solo parents can access for training or education now and twenty years ago. The NZ Herald investigated this and found that a woman in the same circumstances today is $160 better off each week than a sole parent studying in the early 1990’s. Through this little saga, nobody has made a point of the risk such activities could bring to the welfare of the children living in this situation. Surely a mum intelligent enough to study at university can see the threat to the health and welfare of two small children being supported in this way. No matter how lawful and sanitised by legislation prostitution may have become, the drugs, alcohol and violent associations of street work are a threat not only for the workers but for those dependant on them.

In the end the story flopped as the questions were answered and the true situation was outed. TV news was not so interested once the woman’s options were publicised.

The fact that half the women on the DPB don’t have NCEA Level One is the target of educational assistance because without that base level of learning further education is out of reach.
ENDs

Our Future Is Up to Us

nospam@example.com (admin) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:58:17 +1300

The famous quote from Yogi Berra “it’s de ja vu all over again” seems to befit the question of maternity services in Wanganui, with the proposal last week to combine the maternity services between Wanganui and Palmerston North Hospital. That would mean that any birth with an element of risk to the safety of mother or baby would be scheduled to be delivered in Palmerston North. A mum giving birth without complication in Palmerston North would be back in Wanganui Hospital in six hours and 24 hours after a ‘c section’. Women from Palmerston North requiring obstetric and gynaecological surgical procedures would have them in Wanganui.

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South of Burgess Park Syndrome

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:10:00 +1300

Nationally it is known as being “south of Bombay Hills” but in Taranaki it is known as “south of Burgess Park”. This is the tendency for all money, energy, publicity and promise to be liberally strewn around those areas with most population. We see it in South Taranaki in many guises. Last year it was the perennial issue of health and most recently in roading with an argument developing between spending on the Waiwakaiho versus the Normanby Bridges.The argument was the inconvenience of sitting a queue of traffic versus the danger of negotiating the over-bridge which has claimed the lives of many in its time and has been the scene of huge numbers of crashes and near misses.

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Waitangi Day 2012

nospam@example.com (admin) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:57:00 +1300

We’ve had another Waitangi Day Celebration and while most of it was a genuine celebration, the news headlines were around protest again. This is not a surprise but an expectation because, like Ratana visits by the political parties, the topics for discussion are issues that affect New Zealand as a whole and M?ori in particular. Because the visits to Ratana surround the birthday of the leader of the Ratana Church movement, then the aspect of discussion is courteous and polite. Because the Waitangi Celebrations are around the Treaty of Waitangi and post-signing there was about 150 years of neglect of that treaty, bringing with that neglect hurt and insult, Waitangi Day is marked by protest. As much as there is a protocol, the protest movement don’t believe they do justice to the day without getting stroppy about something. Usually that something has a thread of truth to it. As they say, there is no smoke without fire.

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Opening International Vintage Car Rally

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:33:34 +1300

Springvale Park
Wanganui

President John Comber, Chief Organiser and Whip Cracker Bruce Hutton, Her Worship Annette Main and other dignitaries. I want to make special mention of Nick Mason (drummer from Pink Floyd) who is here from England to help promote the Rally, and that certainly beats Top Gear any day for us here in Wanganui. Most of all I want to thank those of you attending this International Vintage and Veteran Car Rally, it is Wanganui’s proud privilege to host.

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CHRISTMAS COLUMN

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:03:00 +1300

This year Christmas has definitely come running at us a hundred miles an hour. With Opening of Parliament ceremonies taking place this week and getting my head around the new role as Minister of Courts, this week has been particularly full.

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SOME DAYS

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:57:00 +1300

The memory of some days stick with you forever. I was at home last Thursday rebuilding a fence – a job that has needed doing for some time – when the cell phone rang. The Prime Minister offered me a place in his Executive as Minister of Courts and Associate Ministers of Welfare and Justice. I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and said ‘yes’ and ‘thanks’ several times, to a boss who has shown his stature and wisdom as a leader over the past six years in Opposition and in government.

Now my challenge is to prove the wisdom of placing this responsibility into my hands and the prospect is challenging and daunting but will bring with it satisfaction and reward.

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WE’RE IN FOR A LONG WEEK IN POLITICS

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:09:00 +1300

Well a week is a long time in politics and it can seem a longer time for some of us. The machinations of MMP mean that unless one part gets more than half the seats available, there will need to be a deal done to ensure ‘confidence and supply’ – in other words that the government will be able to keep supplying the money to run the country and its budget won’t get voted down. The upshot of that would be another election because votes are traditionally taken at various times through the term of a government including when the government moves its budget each May. The leader of the Opposition always opposes the motion moving the budget and moves a counter that there is no confidence in the government. The Prime Minister needs to out vote this counter from the Opposition or the government fails and the country goes back to the polls.

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A NEW TERM AND A NEW RESOLVE

nospam@example.com (admin) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:05:00 +1300

An election campaign for a sitting MP is always just like a performance appraisal or a school report card. I am mindful that most of my reports always had the comment ‘could do better”. So I am very humble and happy to have been re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Whanganui but mindful of the fact that on reflection there is always something that could be done. Most of the public oscillate between wanting to see more of their elected representatives and getting sick of the sight of them. One shopkeeper told me that I had a check showing up at election time when I wanted his vote and that he expected to see me at least once a year.

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FINAL COUNTDOWN

nospam@example.com (admin) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:14:00 +1300

The election is two days away. The choices are clear between a continuing National government that has shown grit and determination to keep New Zealand on the right track of borrowing, and spending less, in the face of many adverse conditions such as a world wide recession, investment company collapses, earthquakes and a mining disaster versus a Labour party that wants to borrow, borrow and borrow at a time when every country is trying to restrict debt.

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NATIONAL ‘GETS IT’ AND LABOUR DOESN’T

nospam@example.com (admin) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:16:00 +1300

Two weeks from Election Day Phil Goff is forced to own up to the fact that Labour can’t count.

Labour plan to borrow about $6 billion to invest on the share market through the superfund but they don’t think this borrowing needs to be counted as they say “we still have the asset” (the borrowed money). The problem is that with share markets and horseraces you’ve still got to pay the money first, win or lose.

South Taranaki/Wanganui is a slice of rural New Zealand which relies on business and Labour keeps on eroding the profitability of business. Lack of profit means businesses close. That means fewer jobs, less money, more unemployment and people moving away to find work.

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Video Update

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:21:09 +1300

Chester notes that he's in Wellington to visit with the Minister of Conservation and talk about DOC job cuts affecting the electorate. Later in the week, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English will be in the electorate with Chester. On Thursday, Chester will be speaking on alcohol reform in Christchurch.

CHESTER BORROWS CANDIDIATE FOR WHANGANUI

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:09:00 +1300

Voters want their MP to be representative of them and not just to represent them. Living, working and raising children in an electorate for more than 25 years gives an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of these communities. This awareness does not come from just being born in the electorate, then moving away as a teenager and later coming back when the going is good. It is about the ‘skin in the game’ of being part of a community through good times and bad times.

Working professionally as a police officer, a lawyer and as a volunteer for decades means we got to know each other. Coaching kid’s rugby, officiating at weddings and funerals, teaching Sunday school, working at school galas and events, initiating community safety programmes and joining and serving each other through such organizations as victim support, scouts, sports clubs and service groups is the stuff of knowing how a community works and how we can best serve that community.

The Whanganui Electorate spans from south of Wanganui to Stony River at Okato. It has strong engineering capabilities across the electorate, a high reliance on pastoral farming but also has a strong horticulture, forestry and manufacturing pedigree. Each end of the electorate has a sense of identity but with little community of interest between Taranaki and Wanganui. There is a wealth of pre-colonial and colonial history, a healthy arts community and a bold sporting heritage in each province. We currently hold the Ranfurley Shield in the north and the Meads Cup in the south. The Whanganui Electorate has been a joy and a privilege to represent in Parliament since 2005. I stood for the position twice and lost before eventually winning the confidence of people across the region. The advocacy at home and in Wellington is a challenge and it’s rewarding to see initiatives generated such as the $4.5 million into our schools, the 100 position Trades Academy, the $35 million for ultra-fast broadband, the Military Academy, the Limited Service Volunteer placements and many other initiatives like Community Max projects, Job Ops and Youth Guarantee which will give young ones hope for a brighter future. Being part of a government that has insulated homes not only against the cold but also rising power costs and respiratory illness for the old and the young makes me very proud. This is a government which has so much to deal with in terms of earthquakes, investment company collapses, industrial disasters, and a world wide recession and has managed to keep money running through the economy so that jobs are not lost, businesses don’t fail and production is lifted.

In the next few weeks we will hear from an Opposition that will pretend there are answers which eluded them for nine long years in government. They will espouse new plans which never saw the light of day when they had the power to effect real change. The Labour Party tries to make traction by telling people they are the only ones who represent the interests of people in need, yet it was National who saw that three quarters of all workers only pay 17.5% tax. People working to pay off mortgages pay thousands of dollars less per year than previously and a married couple on superannuation is getting $166 per fortnight in the hand extra in their pension than under the Labour government. National has done this in a time of recession and restraint and Labour voted against all these improvements.
This electorate needs an MP who has a proven record of hard work and success as a representative of the people; a government that understands the needs of a country with challenges to its economy, environment and its people. I believe the National Party is the right government for our needs and that I offer the skills and determination to continue as your MP for Whanganui.

Authorised by Chester Borrows, 94 Victoria St, Whanganui.

MORE SOCIAL WORKERS IN SCHOOLS

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:16:00 +1300

National will expand its social workers in schools program, if re-elected, to assist with those out of school factors that impact on children’s learning ability - so that kids can better use education to learn for the future. At the moment we are expecting teachers to be more and more like parents, social workers, clinicians and therapists and it is nuts to think they can do all this as well as be top teachers. Recognising that there are social conditions that must pre-exist for children to have the best chance at school is not rocket science, as they say; it’s just plain common sense.

More and more we see that there is no one single answer to all of life’s questions and no solution to all of the problems. Kids who learn best in school are well set up to do it with both a good learning environment in school, stable, safe and encouraging, and a conducive home life which provides a safe and nurturing home, good food and sleep and encouragement to learn. Social workers are currently in schools with a ‘decile 1’ rating and this will be expanded to include up to ‘decile 3’ schools. There are about 17-18 school across the electorate which fit this category.

I continue to be impressed at the schools we have across the electorate that nurture and encourage and the commitment and professionalism of our educators and school administrators. The allocation of funding from the taxpayer to schools is based on their ‘decile;’ which is a measurement of social factors which prevail amongst that particular school community. A school in a well off area with high average wages and larger homes tends to be a higher decile than a school with a workforce which is generally lower paid, a high number of people in receipt of welfare and smaller homes. Sometimes these factors work against each other for example there may be a predominance of older homes which are bigger, but also colder and damper because of their age and condition. The larger home would seek to lift the decile but the condition of the homes should indicate a lower decile.

No system is perfect. Rightly or wrongly, decile is also an indicator of threats and vulnerability and so other helps are provided on the basis of decile. Social Workers in Schools is a government initiative that has been in schools for many years, but the feedback we are getting from schools indicates we need to increase the level.

Increasing the number of social workers in schools would allow teachers and teacher aides to focus on education and would deal with those other social issues that crop up from time to time which interfere with that learning such as wellness, home-life, school-readiness, and how the child is getting on with others at school beyond the usual playground interactions.

For many years teachers have drawn attention to the huge range of expectations placed on them above and beyond the classroom. It is time we all realised that educational success starts at home and some homes need more help than others so everyone make the most of the opportunities they have to succeed.
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GOOD NEWS IN HEALTHCARE IN SOUTH TARANAKI

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:14:00 +1300

It’s great to see some more good news in health and especially good to hear it happening in South Taranaki. Southcare will have 4 or 5 young medical graduates training in their medical centre next year in partnership with Otago Medical School. These young graduates will be doing their rural general practise residency in Hawera under the guidance of the senior GP’s working for Southcare. Let’s hope that biology does the rest! It would be great to have them stay – look how many of our rural and farming men and women have gone on to marry school teachers who initially came to Taranaki as part of the country service scheme that was part of promotion in education in past years.

This builds on the good news we have already had recently regarding health in that we now have well over 1,500 extra nurses and over 700 extra doctors working in our hospitals as a result of moving services to the frontline and concentrating on getting operations for people that need them. There were 26,000 more operations in our hospitals last year than the year before and most of those people were over 65 years who have paid their taxes and made their contribution to our country and deserve to get an operation better, sooner and more convenient than previously.

After years of sending Wanganui people to Palmerston North for procedures, it was also great to see 150 surgical procedures performed on Palmerston North people in Wanganui last year. It shows our region is getting a high level of preferred care, and in that sense I can’t wait for the day when New Plymouth people travel to Hawera for some surgical procedures. It now seems likely after the public consultation and reporting back processes by the TDHB that we will benefit from a number of initiatives allowing smoother access to local doctors. There will be less of a need to travel to New Plymouth for minor procedures and treatments such as the injection of chemotherapy drugs which will be able to be administered by specially trained nurses in Hawera. It appears that finally we will be getting appointments at Base Hospital which consider travel times and the ability to access our doctors by telephone, calling in, email and even text for those who want to use that service. While many of us may phone our doctor now, we will and have seen an enhancement to services offered, even though they will never take the place of a face to face appointment.

There seems to be a willingness on the part of the TDHB to reconsider hospital services away from the bald proposals of recent times with a view to finding an enduring solution that is palatable to the public.

It is great to see that even enforced public consultation can have benefits for both sides of a debate. I am sure that services in Taranaki will reflect the positive outcomes in other areas around the country.