0 The good news is happening here too

We've just got back from a quick trip to the supermarket. But the front page of this morning's Wanganui Chronicle caught our eye so much that we actually bought a copy!

The banner headline that took our attention read like this; Jobs surge thanks to building boom. And the story that accompanied it reads like this:

Job listings in Wanganui are up more than 25 per cent, with growth in the building sector, agriculture, healthcare and transport leading the way.
The TradeMe employment survey for the past three months saw Wanganui vacancies jump 27 per cent to 223, compared with the same period last year. The survey said the trades and healthcare were driving a large part of the region's growth.
Graeme Musson, branch manager at Allied Workforce Labour in Wanganui, said the development of several large buildings and retail centres had helped fuel the jobs' boost.
"There's a lot of positivity in Wanganui at the moment. I've haven't seen this number of cranes along the skyline in a long time."
One building under construction is the Victoria retail centre, including Farmers, which will boast seven specialty shops in the front. A retail development in Bulls has seen a new BP service station open with a Four Square due soon.

"The money's always been there but the confidence has always lacked," Mr Musson said.
"These are buildings being built by owners who live out of town and are investing here."
While the developments ensured a higher number of construction jobs, the retail sector would also benefit from more opportunities once the centres were up and running, he said.

This is fantastic news for the city of Wanganui and for the wider region. The Farmers development between Victoria Avenue and St Hill Street will turn an area that has been a wasteland and an eyesore for several years into a vibrant shopping precinct.

Further up Victoria Avenue the AA has just moved in to brand new premises, and a block further up there's a major development being built for Briscoes and Rebel Sports. And we heard whispers yesterday of a significant development in one of Wanganui's largest export businesses which is also going to have positive spin-offs for the company's suppliers and contractors.

As we have mentioned before, friends own a business which supplies to the building trade. This year has been their busiest ever, by some margin. Residential construction is also booming, as well as the commercial side of the industry.

After a number of years of lagging behind our Manawatu and Taranaki neighbours, the Wanganui region and the city itself deserve good news. The best news they could get on September 20th is to have a National-led government returned to office, and Chester Borrows elected for a fourth term as MP for Whanganui.

0 The "David goes to Wanganui" Caption Contest

David Cunliffe visited Whanganui yesterday; both the city and the electorate, hence the h! 

And the Wanganui Chronicle (without the h) features this photo of him in Victoria Avenue (just across the road from Hon Chestser Borrows MP's office) on a walkabout with local candidate Hamish McDouall.

You know the rules; keep 'em short, pithy, amusing and to the point, and don't get unnecessarily personal. Beyond that, you're limited only by your imagination.

We'll get things started:

Baby: Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to point? Blimmin' Auckland latte drinkers...

We're sure you can do better; the floor is yours...

0 An e-mail from a reader

Our local MP has been prohibited from submitting his weekly columns to the Wanganui Chronicle until after the General Election. Oddly though, the Chronicle is still happy to publish opinion-pieces from other columnists who write about political issues, and who have established links to other political parties.

A column in yesterday's Chronicle from an opinion-writer with links to the Green Party and a strong environmental focus upset one of our readers, and he has sent us a copy of a letter he has sent to the Editor of the Chronicle. With his permission, here 'tis:

Can we please rename the Saturday morning column by your Taranaki based correspondent?  “Party Political Column for the Green Party”, although lengthy, sums it up nicely. Or how about ‘Glass Half Empty’ which is how ‘ordinary Kiwis’ will feel when the lolly scramble of the left is taken back in covert taxes such as enforced KiwiSaver, tricky capital gain taxes and the ETS (where we end up paying for China’s pollution). Not to mention taking us back to the bad old days of state control of markets, the nonsense of printing money to bring down the exchange rate and their maniacal contempt for our core farming and agricultural sector.

Like most Greens your columnist presents herself like ‘mother earth’ in the guise of environmental protection which attempts to conceal the true nature of her political bias – in much the same way as the Green Party hides its radical left leanings. 

I think that, given the local MP cannot write his column and has no opportunity for rebuttal of last Saturday’s muck raking and use of highly emotive but inaccurate rhetorical wording (straight from Green Party HQ), you should seek out a columnist who will provide this paper with some balance. My own column has highlighted the National Party’s excellent management of the economy because it is relevant to my subject matter, which I stick to – business. What relation do actions of the Justice Minister, Maurice Williamson and transparent and legal fund raising have to the environment?

The irony with the column in question is that it is not even written by a Wanganui-based person. Another column which frequently criticises the Government is written by a former Wanganui resident now based in Australia.

We can understand the Chronicle wanting to avoid any suggestions of bias during the campaign period. But the General Election is more than four months away, yet the Chronicle has deprived the sitting National Party MP and Minister Chester Borrows of any right of reply to accusations that may be made in the guise of opinion-pieces.

We add our voice to our correspondent's. We call on the editor of the Wanganui Chronicle to either reinstate Chester Borrows' weekly column, or to balance the view of opponents of the Government with the views of those who support it and re-elected Chester Borrows with a handsome majority in 2011. That's only fair.

0 Tweet of the Day - 3 May 2014

Grant Robertson and Internet Party legal beagle Graeme Edgeler had an interesting korero on Twitter a few minutes ago:

With all respect to Mr Robertson, we take MPs' complaints about airports with a grain of salt. Most of the time, after all, they are flying on our dime. We passed through the same security at Auckland Domestic on Wednesday en route to the Koru Lounge for a cuppa and a snack. We think it's highly likely that most MP's have time to do likewise before they fly; we've seen plenty of them up there over the last few years.

Unfortunately, the actions of a few looney extremists who get their jollies by flying airplanes into tall buildings or blowing them out of the sky have resulted in tough security being imposed at airports. Yes; it's an inconvenience at times, but it sure beats being blown up! We will be flying through the US next year, when we expect to REALLY get a reality check about airport security.

And as an aside, we see that Whanganui MP and Associate Justice Minister Chester Borrows is off to Botswana to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting. We wish him a pleasant journey to southern Africa where he will represent New Zealand with his usual aplomb, and respectfully suggest that he avoid tweeting about any travel inconveniences lest we feel honour-bound to dob him in!

0 Easter good news #3

There was far too much good news at the end of this week for it all to be crammed into one post. And this presser from Social Development Minister Paula Bennett brings very good news indeed:

15,000 fewer people dependent on benefits

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the latest benefit figures showing a five year low confirm New Zealand welfare numbers are back to where they were pre-global recession.
Benefit numbers have dropped five percent or nearly 15,000 to 295,320 in the past year (March 2013 – March 2014).  This has resulted in 17,700 fewer children living in beneficiary households compared to March last year and a whopping 29,500 children fewer than two years ago.
“Beneficiary numbers have fallen to the lowest level since March 2009.  When the Government took office in late 2008, the global financial crisis was already beginning to bite with benefit numbers increasing in the three quarters prior to and including the election,” says Mrs Bennett.

This is excellent news, especially the news that there are nearly 30,000 fewer children living in benefit-dependent households. There is plenty of research that shows that outcomes for children improve where one or both of their parents is in paid employment.

There has also been a significant drop in the numbers of teenaged beneficiaries; read on:

“The big success is the 10 per cent drop in sole parents and their children coming off Sole Parent Support. 
“More than 8,600 sole parents have come off Sole Parent Support in the past 12 months, making up almost 60 per cent of the total reduction.
“Particularly pleasing is the 13.4 per cent decrease in young parents aged 18 on Young Parent Payments.  We know that going on a benefit as teenager with children puts that person and their kids at huge risk of becoming trapped in welfare dependency. 
“In fact 70 per cent of the country’s future liability welfare bill can be attributed to people who first went on benefit in their teens.
“The reductions we’re now seeing will mean fewer people on benefit in the years to come.  We have more young people getting education and training through our Youth Service support which means we’re going to see healthier, more prosperous households,” says Mrs Bennett.

This too is excellent and welcome news. And further decreases in the number of people dependent on the state for support are likely as employment growth continues.

Paula Bennett's appointment as Minister of Social Development in 2008 raised eyebrows. But she has proved to be a formidable Minister, seeing off Annette King and Jacinda Ardern. Her latest opponent, Sue Moroney has yet to land a glove on Ms Bennett.

And Paula Bennett notes one final statistic:

 

“Post peak recession in March 2010, beneficiaries made up 12 per cent of the working age population.  This has dropped to 10.6 per cent as at the end of March. 
“This Government is putting more money than ever before into the welfare system.  We are supporting people earlier, being clearer in our job expectations and putting more focus on at-risk teens.  All of this is making a significant difference.
“Only a few weeks ago New Zealand was judged the best country in the world to live in – our latest welfare figures show things are just getting better,” says Mrs Bennett.

We congratulate Paula Bennett and National's Social Development team (which includes our local MP Chester Borrows) on a job well done. We look forward to that percentage of working age beneficiaries dropping into single figures in the near future.