When we work together, there’s not much that can stop us.
Since Omicron arrived, I’ve been working with our very own Ponsonby Business Association alongside local owner operators and representative bodies across Auckland Central to call for the support necessary to get us all through.
That led to our open letter signed by more than 60 bars, restaurants, venues, cafes and good people at the beginning of February, presented to Minister Robertson. We then put it online and another 1,300 people signed on to support.
I asked some of those business owners if they’d be willing to speak to the media to help the public understand the threat we were facing: a potential irreparable loss to our cultural infrastructure that could see us walk back out not into the vibrant city and streets we know and love, but a bland, corporate landscape. They did and our communities heard it. The pressure continued to build. On the week of 21 February, the Government announced they would fulfil two of the four asks in our letter: targeted support and the extension of Government-backed and IRD loan schemes.
While this support is a lifeline, it’s critical that it doesn’t just end up being a subsidy to commercial landlords in the same way we’ve seen the accommodation supplement in rental properties become. I continue to encourage the Government to adopt tools to enable sensible rent reduction negotiations, as they eventually did after I fought for the same back in 2021. That’s what getting through this together, truly together, looks like.
To fulfil our fourth request would’ve granted support for Council to pause licencing fees and other costs, all the while streamlining applications for things like outdoor dining. While there was headway on the latter last year, we’re still so far removed from the creative and innovative actions across American, European and even some Australian neighbourhoods to reshape their streets for more fun and safety for people going about their business, doing business and building community. We too can do these things if we’re willing to take the leap of faith and try something new – we just might love it.
As Parliament has resumed this last month, I’ve been working across a number of issues important to our neck of the woods.
Unit Titles reform (originally instigated by Hon. Nikki Kaye, then passed to Hon. Judith Collins and now to Nicola Willis) will update the rules and responsibilities for apartment and denser living in the 21st century. Working with the Body Corporate Chairs Group and City Centre Residents Group, I’ve been the sole voice on Finance and Expenditure Select Committee deeply concerned with the removal of proxy voting limits, unwieldy changes to pre-contract disclose and removal of professional standards for Body Corp Managers. As throughout the Bill’s process, I’m working closely with Nicola to see these issues remedied.
After spending the better part of a year to try and scrutinise the detail on Treasury and the Reserve Bank’s forecasting of house prices to no avail, with the Labour majority blocking my motion for this briefing 22 times, I’ve been working towards a full parliamentary inquiry into the Covid-19 economic response. Official Information Act documents show that in 2020, Government officials advised that an over-reliance on monetary policy would grow inequality, particularly through asset inflation. Two years in and with a number of key decisions to be made on where we go next, I strongly believe it is in the public interest for a cross-party lifting of the lid.
As a co-founding member of the Cross-Party Group on Mental Health and Addiction, our next big piece of work is establishing best practice mental health education and support in schools. This supports other mahi in expanding support for eating disorders, on which I collaborate with Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall, and the work with ADHD NZ in supporting changes for greater access to diagnoses and treatment.
There’s so much more to do and say, but I’ll leave it ‘til I next see you. Please don’t hesitate to drop me and my team a line if there’s anything we can do for you. (CHLÖE SWARBRICK)
CHLÖE SWARBRICK, T: 09 378 4810, E: chloe.swarbrick@parliament.govt.nz
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Published 4 March 2022