Local glass artist Katie Brown (left) with Nikki Kaye on Wednesday afternoon. Photo / Bevan Conley
Local glass artist Katie Brown (left) with Nikki Kaye on Wednesday afternoon. Photo / Bevan Conley
National Party deputy leader Nikki Kaye says New Zealand needs to "build back better" post Covid-19.
Kaye visited Whanganui yesterday as the campaign gets under way ahead of September's General Election.
As education spokeswoman, Kaye said she had talked about the need for New Zealand to resolve intergenerational issues.
"Wewill we have a strong focus on social investment, and what that means is that where we've got young people that may not be achieving, may need additional social support, may end up in crime, you'll see a range of policies that I think will benefit some young people in this (Whanganui's) community," she said.
"We are going to have quite a big focus on the first thousand days of life."
"They spend money across the country, they don't just stay in somewhere like Auckland."
Nikki Kaye and Harete Hipango in Whanganui on Wednesday. Photo / Bevan Conley
Kaye said she acknowledged the importance of arts and culture to the Whanganui community.
"We understand the drop in revenue for some organisations in this space, and we'll be talking more about that during the campaign.
"That is relevant to a place like Whanganui, and coming back to the small businesses component, we've already announced a policy called job start, which is $10,000 for a new hire."
National's infrastructure plan would be "the biggest in our nation's history", Kaye said.
"It means investing in our people, and if there are projects that we can come up with that will make a difference to places like Whanganui, then we'll do it.
"We won't just be focusing on the Central Aucklands of this world,
Whanganui MP Harete Hipango said National was aware of the Government's announcement of PGF funding to the Port of Whanganui and the Sarjeant Gallery last week.
"Minister (Shane) Jones is part of the Government, but he's a NZ First member.
"What a lot of people in the community don't know is the advocacy I did behind the scenes [for the Sarjeant].
"That will help in terms of job creation, and addressing tertiary training."
Kaye said New Zealand was facing the worst economic crisis in a generation, and that it had been the National Party "in history" that has been able to step up and put forward an economic plan.
Meanwhile, Kaye said, the recent privacy breach from now former MP Hamish Walker was "gutting and very disappointing".
"If you're dealing with a difficult situation, I don't think it could have been dealt with any faster," Kaye said.
"You have to get to the bottom of what has occurred, and if you're dealing with someone's career, it can be challenging.
"Todd obviously took his portfolios off him and put him at the bottom of the rankings of who had been reselected, and now Hamish has made the decision, prior to the board meeting, to not be a candidate.
