As the National MP living in Christchurch Central I have the pleasure of working with migrants and refugees from all around the world. 

It is enormously important to me, and all Kiwis, to make sure that we welcome and get involved with individuals and communities so that they integrate as effectively and as smoothly as possible when we invite them to come and live in our beautiful country. 

The migrants I have worked with, and had the privilege and pleasure of representing, are highly skilled individuals and I am always impressed by their dedication to their  work and their desire to make a significant contribution to the economy of our city and its cultural richness.  

To highlight the facts and to debunk some common myths regarding the value of our migrants to New Zealand, the government recently commissioned some research by the Department of Labour to determine the value of our migrant labour in NZ. 

Here are the facts. The survey shows that Migrant workers are making a valuable contribution to New Zealand's economy and that employers rate them highly. 

The Department of Labour's 2009 Employers of Migrants survey released last week found 87 percent of respondents rated their migrant employees good or very good. 

Employers say the positive attitude displayed by migrants and their skills and experience were driving factors behind the high ratings. 

Over a third of employers also reported that migrant workers had skills and experience that were not available in New Zealand which contradicts the complaint that migrant workers take local jobs. 

Nine out of 10 of the employers had at least one migrant on staff and 80% had taken on a migrant in the last year. 

So we can see that Migrant workers play a major role in the economy and this survey reinforces the value they provide to employers,

Their positive impact on the economy is immense. In 2005/06 migrants contributed 68 percent more in taxes than they received in services or benefits which equates to a net $3.3 billion boost to the economy.

Between 2001 and 2006, 60 percent of New Zealand's workforce growth came from permanent and temporary migrants. 

The survey, was completed late last year by 424 employers who have had contact with Immigration New Zealand. And is proof positive that financially, as well as culturally, foreign born migrants add real value to our city and country. 

It is a good news story that we should all be promoting. We all know that there are some Kiwis that just don’t understand or appreciate migrants in the community. 

We now know that migrants add real value to our economy and that employers appreciate their contribution but we also know that coming to a new country, moving into a new community and taking up a new job are all challenging and stressful things to do. Each activity is challenging and stressful by itself so when someone has to do all three they need all the support that they can get.

So it is my pleasure to the support the new and innovative Mentoring to Migrant Job seekers programme as set up by CBA. Canterbury Business Association and the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. 

It will provide a win–win-win. A win for immigrants, a win for employers, and a win for the New Zealand community. 

In the survey that we have been talking about 20% of employers felt there were no particular issues in hiring a migrant, which is great news, those employers can just get on with the job. But it also means that 80% feel that they would like some support. And that is where this programme could be invaluable. 

The effective integration of immigrants is both a cultural and economic imperative and any support that the Association and other agencies can give to our migrants to Canterbury is a benefit for everyone. 

So I have great pleasure in officially launching the Mentoring to Migrant Job Seekers programme.

MP encourages you to get behind Plunket  22 March 2009

Plunket is challenging Kiwis to dress as superheroes to raise money in its annual appeal this week.

Be a SuperHero for Under-fives is theme for the Plunket Appeal week, which runs from March 22 to March 28.

“I support this very worthy cause and encourage you to do the same,” Nicky Wagner MP says.

“Keep an eye out for street appeal collectors in Christchurch on Friday 26 March.

“You could also take up the workplace challenge by dressing as super hero and see who can raise the most money for Plunket, while having a whole lot of fun!”

Plunket is the largest provider of support services for the development, health and wellbeing of children.  These services are available free to New Zealand families with children from birth to 5 year years old.

Each year, tens of thousands of New Zealand parents and whänau use Plunket services.

Plunket nurses provide support through home and clinic visits, mobile clinics and PlunketLine, a free 24/7 advice services for parents (0800 933 922).

Funds raised during the Annual Appeal go towards supporting Kiwi kids and families from all walks of like.

For more information go to www.superheroes.co.nz or www.plunket.org.nz

2 March, 2010

Getting tough on truants in Christchurch and Canterbury

As an ex- teacher, MP Nicky Wagner has welcomed the Education Minister’s plans to help schools crack down on truancy. 

“The results of the Ministry of Education’s 2009 truancy survey show that just over 30,000 students are truant from state and state-integrated schools on any given day,” Nicky Wagner says.

“Approximately 2840 of these are from Canterbury.

“This is not good enough. Evidence shows that regular attendance in school is the biggest factor in student achievement. Truants can slip through “the educational” cracks and chronic truancy can lead to negative outcomes later in life such as violence, substance abuse or unemployment.

“National is determined to get tough on truancy.  That’s why we have doubled the amount of funding to tackle the problem.

“An additional $4 million per year will help schools throughout New Zealand introduce stronger and more proactive measures to reduce the number of students wagging school,” Nicky Wagner says.

Initially the funding will go towards extending the use of electronic attendance registers, the Early Notification text message System, and one-off funding of $1.5 million to reduce the time it takes to get students absent for 20 consecutive days back into school.

A small amount has also been set aside to help schools prosecute parents of children who are persistently absent from school without justification.

“The National-led Government is working on a long-term approach, aimed at keeping more children engaged at school, rather than having to get truants back into the system once they have become disengaged Nicky Wagner says.

The 2009 truancy survey can be found at:  http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2503/71220 

National wants to lift achievement in our schools 26 Feb 2010

Almost one in five children leave school without the basic skills in reading, writing, and maths they need to succeed. We want all children to develop those skills.

That’s why at the start of the school year, we launched National Standards in all primary and intermediate state schools.

A few weeks in, we’ve had positive feedback from parents and schools. We know that the vast majority of teachers and schools are putting in place National Standards in a practical and professional manner.

National Standards are benchmarks showing what children should be able to achieve in reading, writing, and maths, and by when. Twice a year, schools will report to parents in plain language, illustrating children’s progress against the standards.

A recent survey in the New Zealand Herald showed that 73 per cent of parents support National Standards. We are confident that even more parents will support the standards once they receive their first reports from their child’s school.

National Standards are not about labelling children. They are about making sure that teachers, principals, and parents know exactly how children are achieving and progressing, and how they can be supported to lift their achievement.

Evidence shows that one of the best ways to lift achievement is having clear, challenging, and achievable goals, followed up with quality teaching.

A report from the Education Review Office at the end of last year showed that almost two-thirds of schools do not monitor Year 1 and 2 children’s performance well, and that three-quarters of principals don’t set expectations of high achievement levels. This shows how urgent it is to take action.

We’re investing $26 million this year to train and support teachers as they implement the standards. And we’re investing an extra $36 million over three years to assist students identified as needing extra help.

We are not introducing national testing like that seen in Britain, the United States or Australia. We have learnt from their experiences. Now the rest of the world is looking at our groundbreaking approach. 

This month we appointed a five-member independent advisory group to support the implementation of National Standards. This group, which includes Professor John Hattie, will provide the Minister of Education with free and frank advice about the implementation of National Standards and any refinements that could make them better.

National wants to see every single child get the opportunity to succeed. National Standards is an important tool to help make that happen.

A step change in economic performance

This week (9 Feb) the Prime Minister opened Parliament by outlining the Government’s programme for the coming year.

In 2010, we’re focusing on growing our economy, creating new jobs, and improving public services to better equip New Zealanders – and particularly young people – for the economic challenges they face.

National seeks a step change in economic performance.

We agree with the Tax Working Group that our tax system has major problems with integrity, fairness, and incentives. In Budget 2010 we will start reforming our tax system.

We want taxes that create incentives to work hard, save, and get ahead. We also want taxes that are fair.

The government is carefully considering a modest increase in the rate of GST, to no more than 15 percent. We are committed to reducing personal taxes and changing the way property is taxed. In the process, we’ll maintain Working For Families, and compensate low to middle income earners for any increase in GST.

Our economic future relies on new ideas. This year we will help businesses grow by connecting them with our best scientists. We’ll invest in more science and business research, drive research into agricultural greenhouse emissions, fund open access food development facilities, and reform Crown Research Institutes.

New Zealand’s natural resources have huge potential to boost economic growth and create jobs. In 2010, we’ll work to unlock that potential by reducing red tape. We’ll drive a second phase of resource management reforms, investigate extending mining on Crown-owned land, remove regulatory roadblocks to irrigation, and reform aquaculture regulations.

We’ll also promote investment in capital markets while strengthening protection for investors, and look at developing New Zealand as a regional hub for financial services. And we’ll start new State Highway projects and lay the first fibre in our ultra-fast broadband initiative.

National’s other major priority is significant social sector reforms. We’ll lift achievement in our schools through National Standards. We’ll work to make neighbourhoods safer by introducing ‘three-strikes’ legislation for the worst violent offenders. And we’ll continue to provide better, faster, more convenient healthcare across our public health service.

We will also deliver on our election promise to reform the benefit system. We want to help people back into work. We’ll adjust the benefit abatement regime to encourage beneficiaries to take up jobs and make sure welfare spending gets to the people who really need it.

2010 will be a busy year. With a relentless focus on lifting our economic performance and improving public services, National is working hard to secure a brighter future for all New Zealanders.

National MP Nicky Wagner is very pleased to see the Christchurch City Council is proposing anti-cruising" by-laws in the city. “It is encouraging that our city is the first to take action to implement this new anti-street racing legislation,” she says.

The by-law is clearly designed to deal with situations like the Four Avenues which have become habitual places for boy racers to congregate, dominate and disrupt traffic and disturb residences and businesses in the area late at night and in the weekends.

In some areas of the city there are boy racer late night  "no-go" streets but we can't and don't want to stop access to main city streets  just  because a few people make life difficult for the vast majority of law abiding drivers and residents. This by-law will allow reasonable access but prohibit excessive, mind-less, noisy driving around  in the middle of the night.

Nicky Wagner says over the past few years, the boy racer culture has developed in our city and without sufficient legislative tools for the police, dangerous, illegal and noisy behaviour had escalated and become a very negative characteristic of our city. 

However, since the new Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Act and the Sentencing (Vehicle Confiscation) Amendment Act  introduced by Transport Minister Steven Joyce and Police Minister Judith Collins on Dec 1st 2009, it has been a lot safer and quieter in the central city and we want to see that continue, she says. 

The "cruising" by-law is another tool to support the police who are expected by the public to control dangerous, noisy, anti-social road users.  "I join thousands of inner city residents and business people in thanking the council for being proactive and welcome its introduction."