Shanan Halbert 🛥️ 🚊 🌍 🏳️‍🌈

The Government needs to provide adequate support for the vulnerable people and families who will be affected by this decision. Shame on @SimeonBrownMP . 2/2 scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2511…

Decisions about treatment should be made by doctors, young people and their parents. Their care shouldn’t be used as an ideological football. Rainbow families and rangatahi will feel this deeply today. 1/2 #nzpol

Wouldn't it be good to implement the bed night visitor levy that Auckland is asking for instead of this? That way we get a sustainable source of funding for events and tourism... rnz.co.nz/news/national/…

@bobmccoskrienz Why am I living rent free in your head? 🤔😜

If you want to know why Labour can’t win campaigns, it’s because of the common denominator standing in the background. Can’t win an electorate seat either. Not even his own. That’s the problem with MMP. We get politicians who the public don’t actually like. And don’t elect. But hey - that’s Labours problem now 😂

Penny Simmonds still refuses to front up with the basic financial details we need to know if her plan will even work. All signs point to things getting worse — and more jobs on the chopping block. 🔗 nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/go…

I’m calling on the Minister to release all the advice that she has received on job losses to the vocational sector.

We need a Government focused on building the future. Since National took office, 18,000 people have lost their jobs in construction, with many heading overseas to find work. Labour will bring certainty, so people can keep their jobs and build a future in New Zealand.

The Govt drops the Waikato Med School business case on a Friday night. We’ve been waiting . Weekend homework. health.govt.nz/information-re…

The Govt has told Sport NZ to stop work on guidelines for including trans people in community sport. Raelene Castle and Sport NZ wanted inclusivity – and I agree. So why the backtrack? This Govt has no values. Sport should bring people together, not shut them out. 🏉 ⚽️

Serious questions remain about conflicts of interest—and Otago’s proposal was rejected. So why is the Government still hiding the business case for the Waikato medical school?

The Govt is pressing ahead with a Waikato Medical School — with less funding than planned. We need more doctors, but scaling up Otago & Auckland would’ve been faster and more cost-effective. More pressure on an already underfunded sector.

The Govt’s changes to training in our regions will see jobs lost and fewer training opportunities. They’re returning polytechs to a model that was never financially viable. Simmonds couldn’t even guarantee if they would all still be operational in two years’ time.

Otago Polytechnic has been thrown into a state of confusion and the Minister refuses to front up and explain. 🔗 thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360760…

Penny Simmonds is playing favourites. Her old stomping ground SIT is set to stand alone while Otago Polytechnic has been merged with the Open Polytech. How is this uncertainty good for the regions?

@Jojococomarolit No he was busy asking a patsy on health somewhere else

@shananhalbert McLeod was amused about the talk re polytechs in QT. He didn’t seem concerned about New Plymouth losing their polytechnic this is his constituency.

Penny Simmonds’ changes to vocational education are already having real consequences for learners across Aotearoa. This isn’t “reform.” It’s disinvestment. And it’s hurting the very students who need the most support to succeed.

Walking & cycling before this govt came in was 4% of our transport budget. Now it’s 1.5%. Under the Govt’s plan it would’ve taken us 100’s of years to renew our footpaths. We put $500m additional in to increase footpath funding without govt subsidies. Red herring from the PM!

The National Government could have simply addressed some of the issues Te Pukenga had, without disestablishing it, and avoided all the expense and uncertainly this has had on staff and students 🔗 rnz.co.nz/news/political…

The message was clear - it just doesn’t stack up. Faith in the new federated model and its long term viability is low. The minister needs to come clean with what financial info she has to improve our polytechnics and their ability to deliver quality educational services.

“Fundamentally flawed” — that’s how Civil Contractors NZ chief executive Alan Pollard described the Government’s decision on vocational training reform. It’s becoming clearer by the day: National has overpromised a model it can’t afford and can’t deliver.