Time to take stock and reflect

We’re now six months into the Parliamentary term since the election and it’s a good time to take stock and reflect. I’m happy to report there’s no place I’d rather be than right here in Tāmaki. It’s been an absolute pleasure to serve as your local Member of Parliament and as a Minister in Cabinet in this coalition Government. I can’t wait to see what excitement the next six months bring!

We’ve hit awesome milestones over the past six months, including establishing the electorate office in the Meadowbank Mall. You can find our local Tāmaki electorate office staff Jaden, Jan and Cynthia working hard to assist any local with issues and concerns here. If you need my or our team’s assistance, would like to share your thoughts, or let us know about a local event you think we should attend, please email [email protected], phone 09 574 1345 or pop in to the office, otherwise you’ll see us out and about in the community.

Lest we Forget

It was a privilege to gather in St Heliers with locals this ANZAC Day as we remembered the bravery, struggle and sacrifices of the service men and women who fought for our freedoms.

We thank our veterans who have served and our defence force personnel who currently serve to keep peace and security around the world. The strong local presence in remembrance honoured the ANZAC spirit. Lest we forget.

This month I hosted Pet Refuge CEO Julie Chapman in Meadowbank to hear about the fantastic work the Pet Refuge does to help Kiwis leave domestic violence. It was a very inspiring discussion; you can learn more about their work here.

Supporting KidsCan at the Auckland Netball Centre in Stonefields

It was a big day at the Auckland Netball Centre when the Hits Jono and Ben and How to Dad set up camp and set out to raise money for KidsCan in a 24-hour charity handball event. I popped down as your local MP to our local courts to support their effort and give handball a go. It had been at least 20 years since I’d played handball, but thankfully I found it’s a bit like riding a bike. Over $450,000 was raised in this mammoth effort for Kiwi kids.

Meeting St Heliers Fire Station Personnel

As Minister of Internal Affairs, I visited our local St Heliers Fire Station to better understand their work environment and how the process works directly from an alarm being raised to the team suiting up and heading out the door. I was very impressed with our firefighters and thank them for helping to keep our community safe through responding to fires and emergencies here and in surrounding suburbs.

Upcoming Events

As part of our community event series, our office is committed to bringing interesting guest speakers to Tāmaki. The next meeting will be with Brad Olsen, Chief Economist for Infometrics, and will be about Budget 2024 and the state of the economy. The meeting will be held at Sacred Heart College Theatre from 6.30pm on Friday June 21st, so please save the date, you won’t want to miss it!

This month, David Seymour and I, along with support from the Akarana Marine Sports Centre in Orakei will be hosting a Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Breakfast with guest speaker Justine Smyth, Chair of the Breast Cancer Foundation. Come along on Friday 24 May for a special morning to support the women in our lives who’ve fought and are fighting breast cancer. Tickets can be purchased here, all proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Foundation.

Thank you for your support,

Simon


Brooke van Velden
ACT Deputy Leader | MP for Tāmaki

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