MP back in Parliament

Steph Lewis (centre) with volunteers at the Labour electorate stand at the Home and Lifestyle show. Photo / Supplied

I would like to say thank you to everyone who stopped to chat with me at the Home and Lifestyle show at the Jubilee Stadium earlier this month.

Over the two-day event I joined our local Labour electorate stall and volunteers, where the question 'What matters to you?' was being asked. We heard mental health was a significant concern for people and topics relating to children, such as ensuring they get a great education and lifting children out of poverty.

Making New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child is a priority for our Government, and despite a global pandemic, our extra measures to support families have lifted tens of thousands of children from poverty and we're seeing downward trends across all nine measures of child poverty.

While we're making good progress on tackling the long-term challenges that cause child poverty, we know that none of the solutions are instant. Providing a free and healthy lunch at school is one way to make a difference for kids in Whanganui immediately, and it's a programme that I'm incredibly proud of and thrilled to see reach its two-year milestone.

Since it started, around 63 million healthy lunches have been served and they now reach 220,000 students across the country, including lots of kids here in Whanganui.

The programme is one of the ways that we're helping to make everyday life more affordable for New Zealanders. For example, it's saving families with two children at school around $62 a week and more than $2000 a year.

Recently we also recognised one year of offering free period products in schools, Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata, which has been hugely successful and now involves 2085 primary, intermediate, kura and secondary schools.

The initiative has had a positive impact on school attendance, supporting living costs and combating child poverty.

Fuel tax cuts, reducing road user charges, and half-price public transport costs are also helping people locally, but it was mentioned a few times that more needs to be done to help with the price of food. Taking action on supermarkets is just one step we're making to ensure Kiwis are paying a fair price at the checkout.

There's no single solution to the cost of living pressures that families are feeling right now, but these measures are part of a range of actions we've taken to support New Zealanders in the face of global inflation.

I'm back in Parliament and looking forward to reaffirming these areas as my priorities among others. If there is another issue you would like me to be thinking strongly about please let me know in my community survey at Labour.org.nz/stephlewis.