AMY ADAMS MP for Selwyn - Blog

Protecting our local environment

nospam@example.com (admin) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:24:59 +1200

I’d like to tell you about many things that are helping to improve our local environment.

An ambitious programme has begun to better manage our fresh water.

Since establishing the Land and Water Forum a National Policy Statement on Fresh Water has been delivered, along with doubled penalties for non-compliance, introduced regulations for metering water takes, and a new Fresh Water Clean-up fund.

We have an ambitious work programme to improve management of contaminated sites around New Zealand and reduce the environmental harm caused by waste.

Over 25,000 homes have been funded in two years to convert to clean heating, while Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart scheme has insulated more than 100,000 homes.

More trees are being planted, more renewable power stations are being approved, and more lakes and rivers are being cleaned up. New laws have been introduced to control freedom camping and new national environment standards have been set for air quality and contaminated soil.

The National government wants New Zealand to do its fair share on climate change.

Our moderate Emissions Trading Scheme is delivering real results by reducing emissions, encouraging tree planting and investment in renewable energy. The scheme is delivering emissions reductions and is on track to meet our Kyoto Protocol obligations.

Attention has also been focused on streamlining the Resource Management Act, Environmental Protection Authority, and reforming the processes for projects of national significance.

It is vital that Selwyn manages its resources more effectively and efficiently to bring both economic and environmental benefits.

Our natural environment is our greatest asset. It makes living in Selwyn so special. It’s the core of our quality of life, our national identity, and our competitive advantage.

Earthquake

nospam@example.com (admin) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 08:28:00 +1300

Now that a week has passed since the massive aftershock ripped through Christchurch City I have a moment to look back over the week and try and form my thoughts into some sort of coherence.

I guess the starting point is where I was last Tuesday, which was sitting in a select committee room at Parliament getting ready to chair a Finance and Expenditure committee meeting. Others at Parliament felt the shake but I can't say I noticed it. My colleague Aaron Gilmore rushed into the meeting just before 1pm saying that a big tremor had hit Christchurch and my first instinct was to try and call home but of course I couldn't get through. Although concerned I guess we assumed it was similar to previous aftershocks, scary, but not too damaging. As news filtered through of the magnitude, the fear began and I rushed through the necessary business fairly abruptly to the chargin of some other members of the committee so we could adjourn.

It was then I began to see TV coverage of my beloved city collapsing, the terror, the disbelief, the injuries depicted on national television. I reached my husband by phone for a few seconds before the call failed which let me know a) he was OK but b) he couldn't reach the kids schools. Both my children are at schools in the central city and my son's school in particular is not only right in the CBD but is built in the same way as the cathedral, arts centre and provincial chambers buildings. As I saw images of those buildings collapsing, spewing their deadly chunks of heavy masonry everywhere, I'm not too proud to admit I lost it. As the tears came the only words I could get out were "I can't get hold of my kids, they're in the city". That was enough - people knew what I meant and my wonderful colleagues rushed around trying to find ways to get me into Christchurch as fast as possible. It took around 4 hours until I knew both kids were safe and the fear I felt until I had them back with me is the most debilitating I have ever known. Watching the news only terrified me more and yet I couldn't stop watching it. In the end though I am blessed, my family all came through with only bumps and bruises.

While the Sept 4 quake was centered in the heart of Selwyn, this time the district escaped remarkable lightly. It was the city that took this hit and the hill suburbs around it. My heart goes out to those in the eastern suburbs and CBD areas who are suffering the most. My electorate though includes much more than just Selwyn District and the inner harbour areas of Governors Bay to Diamond Harbour and the hill suburbs like Westmorland and Kennedys Bush are the areas of my patch that have been most affected this time. I've spent the past week going around the electorate talking with people, trying to co-ordinate what help is needed where and ensuring people have the contact numbers they need to access help. On the faces of those most affected I see the same zombie like disbelief that I know I had last September. The lack of sleep, the inability to feel safe in your home, the worry about what the future holds.

This time though it is different - the human tragedy is enormous. Canterbury is a village and here the six degrees of separation is more like 2. Almost all of us will know or be connected to someone that we have lost and the stories of all the people lost hurt us deeply. These are our people, going about the sorts of normal things in the places that we all inhabit and the randomness of their loss cuts us deeply. The buildings lost are just buildings but they are iconic to Cantabrians.

Now the question most asked is how do we recover from this - how does the city come back? As some people flee Christchurch, those that remain are scared. The economic impact of this is only beginning to be felt and its aftershocks will rattle this region for some time. I don't have all the answers of course but here is what I do know. Cantabrians are strong even though we may not feel it just now. We will get through this and rebuild a strong, safe city that is a testament to who we are. This will be a city that all of NZ is proud of, that sets a benchmark. I don't know how long it will take but I have faith in my province and I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and fight for Canterbury. We won't be alone in this. The local and international support has been incredible and the Government has reacted swiftly and has pledged to be beside us every step of the way. Canterbury will be the first priority and the needs of our people are being constantly assessed and responded to.

These are testing times but we will get through it.

Giving Youth Offenders a Fresh Start

nospam@example.com (admin) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:46:34 +1300

Every community has kids who get up to mischief. Most young people who break the law are dealt with effectively, and don’t reoffend. But there’s a core of around 1000 persistent, serious young offenders in New Zealand. We need a new approach to hold them to account, help them turn their lives around, and make our communities safer.

The Fresh Start initiatives deliver our promise to tackle youth offending. Since 1 October, Youth Court judges have a greater range of tools available to deal with young offenders.

Experience shows that some young people need a longer, more intensive intervention to turn their lives around.

National’s Fresh Start package provides tougher, and more effective sentencing, extended Youth Court powers, and new court orders will give young offenders a fresh start, and help steer them away from a life of crime.

Our aim is to help get lives back on track as soon as possible. We have also introduced new Youth Court orders to help reduce youth offending. These are aimed at youth offenders and their families. Any Youth Court orders applied to these offenders will be age-appropriate.

The most serious repeat young offenders will be sent to Military-style Activity Camps, involving up to three months residential training using army-type facilities or training methods. They provide clear boundaries, and reinforce self-discipline, personal responsibility, and community values.

The camps will be followed by nine months of mentoring and programmes to address the causes of the offending. Programmes include drug and alcohol treatment, and basic education programmes. Along with follow-up supervision, these programmes will help reinforce the discipline, responsibility, and values learnt at camp.

Parenting orders will give parents of serious young offenders parenting skills, support, and information about addressing drug involvement, school failure, anti-social peers, and abuse at home. Young offenders who are, or about to be parents, may also be ordered to take part.

Canterbury Earthquake

nospam@example.com (admin) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:55:11 +1200

The early hours of Saturday morning were without doubt some of the scariest of my life. Wrenched from deep sleep by violent tremors and a deafening roar, the mind can't even comprehend what is happening.

Once I realised it was an earthquake the next thought was quite simply that we were going to die. There just didn't seem any way the house could withstand the forces throwing it around. In those moments your instinct is simply to reach out for your family.

Grabbing my husband we both started screaming out to my daughter (my son was thankfully away in a safe area) and as soon as we could stand we pushed through debris in total blackness to my daughter's room. Later when the sun came up I would learn that the fish tank that flew across her room missed her head by mere inches before crashing on the bed post but at that moment the priority was getting everyone into the kitchen and under our very solid table.

In the darkness the house felt totally unfamiliar and progress was slow picking our way through the remains of our once treasured possessions. In bare feet broken glass was the biggest challenge and once we reached the table it felt like a refuge. We huddled together there for a while before venturing out for blankets, shoes and our civil defence kit which luckily enough we had.

Thoughts quickly turned to friends, family and neighbours. Where text contact could be made we were reassured but we couldn't get any response from my husband's family down the road. A heated debate ensued - we couldn't stand the thought they could be buried under rubble but we had no way of knowing if the roads were safe or even still there. In the end my husband headed out to check on his family while my daughter and I took turns comforting each other that no matter what else happened we were ok.

I remember thinking if it feels this bad here imagine how bad the epicentre must be. When the radio told us we were the epicentre, it was oddly comforting. At least no where would be much worse than this and there was no risk of tsunami.

There was little more we could do then but try to stay warm and wait for the sun to come up. When it did get light it was all a bit surreal. Total stillness & a sense of an ordinary morning until you looked at all the damage and then my brain seemed incapable of knowing how to process it all. I spent several hours just wandering around staring at things not even abe to formulate a plan of where to start.

Power, water and landlines were gone and would be for the next 48 hours and cellphones and radios became invaluable. In the hours ahead it seemed everyone else in the world knew more about what was happening than us.

By mid morning there was little more we could do at home and family members were there helping out so I left to survey damage to the local area. Needless to say it was significant in parts but other areas had largely escaped unscathed.

Roads that had been flat and straight now had hills in them and tarmac had ripped apart, large pine hedges had moved metres from their original sites but it was the devastated houses that left me shell shocked. Time and again I heard stories of lucky escapes and the fact no-one died seemed more and more miraculous.

The randomness of it all is bizarre. One township will be badly hurting, in the next barely a glass has been broken.

Now as the days wear on the euphoria of being alive is waning and the scale of the disaster is weighing on us heavily. No-one is sleeping much as aftershocks rattle our frayed nerves and exhausted, hollowed eyed faces are everywhere. It will be some time yet before we know the full extent of what this has cost us financially & emotionally.

On the positive side though something like this brings out the best in the vast bulk of people. Our communities are resilient and supportive and make me proud to be a Cantarbrian. Our people look out for each other and something like this certainly reminds you what is important. Together I have no doubt we will get through this.

Frames, platforms & theatres, purple people and operations

nospam@example.com (admin) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:53:00 +1200

You might think you understand those terms but not in an RNZAF sense I bet. Throw in some CT-4's, C130's, P3-K's and the odd NH90 and you'll be completely bemused.

Having just finished a week with our air force though all that makes perfect sense to me and the acronyms and codes are dripping off my tongue like an old hand.

What a week it's been. The second NZDF Parliamentary Scheme placement, the first into RNZAF and this time with 2 opposition MP's(because it is an all of Parliament scheme). The common thing to the first placement in the Navy is the massive increase over the past week of my understanding of what the service does and how much is involved for them to deliver the many and varied tasks they do for us.

With a tiny budget compared to the bulk of other countries we are allied to, the outputs generated and the international respect our air force commands is something more kiwis should know about. If they did they would be staggered as I have been this week.

The air force combines all that is great about NZ. A can do attitude, a way of finding solutions on a shoestring that much larger and better funded players can't do at all, and a warm and easy going manner.

What I love about our defence force is the way good old values like high standards, respect, service to others and personal accountability are evident in all that they do.

Over this week I've been pushed to my limits physically to an extent but most of all mentally.

I'm not great with heights but I've been winched in and out of an Iroquois 100m above ground, flown acrobatics (including controlling the plane myself through a full loop) and done 200km/hr in freefall from 12,000 feet (then the parachute opened).

I've done press-ups and 5km jogs wearing 20kgs of weights, carried out at sea survival training, done low level flying and tactical training missions. I did crash a hercules but it was only in a simulator so no harm done (no one would be mad enough to put me in control of an actual herc!).

But the true take home memory for me is of the highly skilled people across so many trades, that make up our effective and respected airforce.