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May 2013
Kia ora everyone!
I am sending this month's newsletter to you all from Tolaga Bay
where I amattending the tangi of Hon Parekura Horomia. As you will
have seen from mediareporting he was a well loved and respected
parliamentarian, Minister, andfriend.
I worked with him as a public servant, for him when he was
Minister of MaoriAffairs, and opposite him in this Government. We
shared a warm and genuinefriendship, and a passion for raising the
educational achievement of youngMaori. He was indeed a big man with
a big heart and his passing marks a sadday for our Ngati Porou
community, but also for those who knew and workedwith him across
the country.
Many, many people are coming to pay their respects and recall
delightful storiesof their interactions. Yesterday, in pouring
rain, hundreds came from Tainui withKing Tuheitia, and from
Kahungunu in the Hawkes Bay, together with Hon DrPeter Sharples,
leader of the Maori Party, and Minister of Maori Affairs. Todayand
for the duration of the tangi we expect many more.
Haere ra e Parekura, oki oki ra. Rest in peace.
Well, the month of April has seen a lot of positive and exciting
education resultsnationwide.
But first I would like to thank all those who wrote to me,
emailed me, came tomeet me and called me to discuss the Marriage
Equality Bill. I really appreciated
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your feedback and your comments during this process, and I am
grateful that asan electorate and a community you took the
opportunity to voice your opinionand respectfully engaged with
me.
This Bill was one of two conscience votes taken since we have
been inGovernment, the other being the purchase age for alcohol. I
voted for theMarriage Equality Bill, and for raising the purchase
age to 21 years.
Lest We Forget
The timing of this panui is a great opportunity for me to
acknowledge ANZACDay. As a grand-daughter, daughter, sister, and
wife of servicemen I am proudthat we as New Zealanders commemorate
those who made contributions toefforts all around the world to
bring peace and democracy. And to those whomade the greatest
sacrifices with their lives.
I know that communities across Mana as well as around the
country each madetheir own commemorations.
The Porirua RSA memorial crosses on Te Rauparaha Park was a very
touchingvisual that helps us all remember the fallen in a powerful
way.
Its all about results!
Sharing the highlights first, this month I announced an overall
2 per centincrease in the 2012 NCEA achievement rates for 16 year
olds. Yay! A significantimprovement in one year - but still a way
to go. Nevertheless, we must
celebrate the successes and build upon them.
For Pasifika there was a 3.5 per cent increase to 52.5 per cent
up from 49 percent in 2011.
That means 3,054 of the 5,820 Pasifika 16 year old students who
started the2012 school year had achieved Level 2 by the end of the
year.
The results also show a 2 per cent increase in Mori achievement
with 54 percent of 16 year-old Mori students achieving NCEA Level 2
last year up from52 per cent in 2011.
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That means 5,857 of the 10,841 16 year-old Mori students who
started the2012 school year had achieved NCEA Level 2 by years
end.
I also announced a rise in our provisional figures for early
childhoodparticipation.
The provisional data for the first quarter of 2013 shows around
95.5 per cent ofchildren that started school this year had
participated in early childhoodeducation. Thats up from 94.7 per
cent at the same time last year.
The provisional data also shows increases in participation rates
for Mori andPasifika children.
Around 91.7 per cent of Mori children and around 88.1 per cent
of Pasifikachildren starting school had participated in early
childhood education.
Thats an increase of about 1.4 percentage points for Mori and
nearly 2percentage points for Pasifika children compared to the
same period last year.
These results are a credit not only to the students themselves
but to all theparents, principals, teachers and the wider
communities that played a role in thisincrease. Thank you.
Electorate
Porirua Grand Traverse
The Porirua Grand Traverse was a great opportunity for our young
team ofvolunteers to get involved. Hundreds of Mana electorate
participants gave it ago. The wet and cold weather did nothing to
dampen spirits, and participants
from all ages ranging from young primary children to our
respected elderly alldid spectacularly well.
I am grateful to our committed electorate Key Person team for
not onlyparticipating but helping to marshal the event. If youd
like to be more involvedwith our team please contact my electorate
office on 04 237 0746.
Congratulations to all!
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AGM Guest Speaker - Alfred Ngaro, MP
We had the opportunity to hear from my friend and colleague,
Alfred Ngaro, atthe Mana Cruising Club on the 6th of April. Alfred
is the first MP of Cook Islanddescent, and shared many experiences
of his life growing up in West Auckland,his working life as an
electrician, then community worker, and pastor; as ahusband and
father; and now as a National MP.
Alfred was also a key organiser and host of our first ever
Pacific Parliamentaryand Political Forum which I talk about later
in this panui.
I also had the opportunity to talk about our current results in
my Education andPacific Island Affairs portfolio, as noted earlier
in this panui.
Porirua Chamber of Commerce
I accompanied Prime Minister John Key when he was guest speaker
at thePorirua Chamber of Commerce. There was a great turn out of
business people,and local government with Mayor Nick Leggett and
other councillors present. ThePrime Minister talked about New
Zealands sustainable economic growth, andreinforced our aim for 5
out of 5 students successfully achieving in education.
He commended our businesses in Porirua and congratulated Porirua
for havingone of the lowest crime rates in New Zealand. For more
information on our crimestatistics, please go
tohttp://www.police.govt.nz/statistics/2012/calendar
The PM and I at the Porirua Club talking with Porirua Cr Euon
Murrell
http://www.police.govt.nz/statistics/2012/calendarhttp://www.police.govt.nz/statistics/2012/calendarhttp://www.police.govt.nz/statistics/2012/calendarhttp://www.police.govt.nz/statistics/2012/calendar
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Rotary Conference 2013
I was a guest speaker at the Rotary conference in Rotorua at the
invitation ofPlimmerton Rotary who were co-organisers of this
enormous event. Almost 600Rotarians from Auckland and the lower
North Island attended, including manyfrom our Mana electorate. It
was a great success by all accounts.
The theme of the conference was "Pushing the Boundaries" and I
spoke bothabout my own boundaries being pushed, and the
contribution that a goodeducation has made to my life
opportunities, and about the enormous potentialof all our children
and the importance of a quality education for each and everyone of
them.
Graeme Blick stepped down from his role as District Governor
(together with hiswife, Chris) and was thanked by the conference
for the tireless work he has putin through that role.
At the Rotary Conference with 3 teachers from England on a
sponsored visit by Rotary
Government
Education and Pacific Island Affairs Portfolios
As mentioned earlier in our panui we are seeing some great
results inEducation for all our kids. We must celebrate these
results as a community anda nation. The success rate is not enough
yet but with focus and determinationand working together it is
clear that we can grow achievement year on year.
One of the 60 secondary schools that grew achievement in a
significant way in2012 was our own Porirua College. I have written
to the Board and Principal tocongratulate them and their parent
community. Well done!To keep up to date on all the positive things
happening in Education, follow meon twitter - @hekiaparata, and
friend me on Facebook.
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Crime Rates Drop
Under Our Government there has been a 16.7 per cent drop in
recorded crimeover the past three years. Our communities are
becoming safer.
Nationally we have the lowest crime rate in more than 30 years,
with more than30,000 fewer crimes recorded nationally last
year.
These results are great news for our communities here in the
Mana electorateand a source of national pride. This is truly a
reflection of the tireless work oflocal police, community
initiatives, and our governments commitment totackling crime.
Kapi Mana district crime statistics show recorded crime has
dropped 3.2% percent in the past calendar year. Well done!
I am proud to be part of a Government that is delivering on its
promise to builda safer New Zealand. As members of our community in
Mana it is important that
we continue to support this positive growth.
Parliament
Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum
At the Pacific Parliamentary
dinner held at Ptaka with
Principal Sose Annandale of
Russell School and Gagau
Annandale-Stone of MSD.
At the Pacific Parliamentary dinner held at
Ptaka with Fijidelegation and Tina
McNicholas, Wellington Fiji Representative.
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In Parliament we welcomed around 70 Pacific Members of
Parliament andpolitical leaders from across the Pacific region to
participate in the first PacificParliamentary and Political
forum.
The objective was to promote stronger governance, cooperation
and politicalcohesion amongst new and emerging political leaders
from the Pacific region andto strengthen relations with NZ
parliamentarians.
I was delighted to see the different Pacific countries
represented in our NewZealand Parliament House debating issues dear
to the Pacific - and therefore tous. It was invigorating,
passionate, neighbourly, and important.
I hosted the delegation at a dinner at Premier House where we
celebrated theoccasion and in true Aotearoa-Pacific fashion, sang
songs throughout theevening.
This was a great opportunity being together as Pacific
colleagues to learn fromeach other and share our stories in order
that we can build a brighter and betterfuture for all Pacific
people across the region.
At the dinner I hosted at Premier House at the Pacific
Parliamentary.
See my speech at the Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders
Forumhttp://inthehouse.co.nz/node/18273
At the dinner I hosted at Premier House at the Pacific
Parliamentary
http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/18273http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/18273http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/18273
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Whats Coming Up
Triennial Board of Trustees Elections
I would like to remind everybody about the SCHOOL BOARD OF
TRUSTEESelection and encourage you to get involved and engage with
your local school.School boards hold overall responsibility for the
governance of a school, settinggoals, determining the strategic
direction, and raising the achievement of eachand every
student.
Elections will be held around the 30 May 2013. Nominations
opened 15 April2013.
For more information
visit:http://www.trustee-election.co.nz/
Porirua Expo
The 2013 Porirua Expo is being held 4th May from 10am to 4pm at
Te Rauparaha
Arena.
Please make sure you pop over to our electorate booth to say
hello.
There will be:
Business expo Craft market Prizes and giveaways KapiMana kids
market Bouncy castles and rides Performers, dancers, music Outdoor
concert
And much more. Come down and support the cause.
And every weekend there are great markets in our Mana electorate
- I will be atthe Paraparaumu market on the 3rd of August and 26th
of October.
See you there!
Ka mutu..
Please feel free to visit my websitewww.hekiaparata.co.nz; where
you find pressreleases and my latest video blog.
Id also appreciate your support on Facebook! I update my page
regularly withphotos, press releases, questions and comments. Jump
online and add me as a
friend!www.facebook.com/hekia.parata.
http://www.trustee-election.co.nz/http://www.trustee-election.co.nz/http://www.trustee-election.co.nz/http://www.hekiaparata.co.nz/http://www.hekiaparata.co.nz/http://www.hekiaparata.co.nz/http://www.facebook.com/hekia.paratahttp://www.facebook.com/hekia.paratahttp://www.facebook.com/hekia.paratahttp://www.facebook.com/hekia.paratahttp://www.hekiaparata.co.nz/http://www.trustee-election.co.nz/
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And Twitter has also been a great way to ensure you get
information directlyfrom me too @hekiaparata.
Please feel free to forward my newsletter to others who may be
interested.
Lest we forget.
Ng mihi
Hon Hekia ParataNational List MP based in the Mana
ElectorateFunded by the Parliamentary Service and authorised by
Hekia Parata MP, Level 1, 20 Parumoana Street,
Porirua.
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