It is now only 97 days until the 2023 election, which will be a critical election in New Zealand’s history.

National’s campaign is in full swing with a large number of policies already released and more to come, while locally here in Pakuranga we are working hard to meet as many people as possible as part of our campaign to get New Zealand Back on Track.

When door knocking or at the markets I am frequently asked where to find National’s policies. You can read all our current policies on our website at www.national.org.nz/plan.

Some of the policies we have already announced include (click on each to read more):

• Tax relief for working families.
• Cuts to Wellington consultants to support young families with childcare costs.
• A ban on gang patches and new tools to help Police break the power of gangs in New Zealand.
• Ensuring every child in Primary and Intermediate School spends one hour every day on reading, writing, and maths.
• Repealing three waters and replacing it with a plan that makes sense.
• Housing policy which helps build more houses, without forcing Councils to intensify existing suburbs with three story houses.

These are just some of our policies with many more to come, which you can read on our website as they are released.

Restore the speed limits on our arterial roads - sign the petition!

This week, I am launching a petition calling on Auckland Transport (AT) to restore the previous speed limits on our arterial roads, namely Pakuranga Road, Ti Rakau Drive, and Te Irirangi Drive.

When AT first made these changes a few months ago, they were rightly met with opposition from the local community who knew that slowing our roads down was not going to make them safer, and would only result in more congestion and longer travel times. The reality is, our roads are no less safe than the majority of roads in Auckland, so a reduction in speed limits was an attempt to solve a problem that doesn't even exist.

AT will soon be proposing more speed limit changes across Auckland, despite the complete lack of statistical or evidence-based reasoning for doing so. Instead of proposing real solutions to Auckland's traffic woes and committing proper investment to their maintenance and to new and improved roads, they continue with their lazy approach that doesn't solve anything.

If you agree that the previous speed limits should be reinstated - 60km/h on Pakuranga Road and Ti Rakau Drive and 80km/h on Te Irirangi Drive - then please sign the petition by clicking the button below.

National will restore law and order in New Zealand

National believes it is unacceptable that Kiwis feel unsafe in their own homes and communities, so we have announced a raft of policies to deal with growing crime and keep you safe:

• We will limit the ability of judges to reduce sentences to a maximum discount of 40%.
• We will restore the Three Strikes law to ensure the most serious offenders are kept behind bars.
• We will reprioritise the $20 million of taxpayer money currently spent on "cultural reports" used to reduce sentences towards supporting the victims of crime instead.
• We will provide access to rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners, as around a quarter of all prisoners serve their sentences on remand without attempts to rehabilitate them.
• We will also make membership of a gang an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing, regardless of whether the crime committed was associated with gang activity.

These policies are in addition to others specifically focused on curbing gang crime and membership, like the banning of gang patches in public places and providing police with greater tools like dispersal notices to prevent them from gathering in public and warrantless search powers to take guns out of their hands.

If you would like to read more about our law and order policies, click here.

I am also hosting a public meeting specifically on law and order next month on Friday 4 August alongside National's Police and Corrections Spokesperson Mark Mitchell. The details are in the graphic below.

Get NZ Back on Track public meeting with Christopher Luxon

As part of National's Get NZ Back on Track tour, Christopher Luxon will be holding a public meeting next Saturday 15 July in Manurewa. I know it may be a bit out of the way for some of you, but if you're interested in hearing more from Christopher about his vision for New Zealand and how a National government would get our country back on track, please come along. I will be there alongside our hardworking candidate for Manurewa Siva Kilari.

The details for this public meeting are as follows:

• When: Saturday 15 July at 3:00pm
• Where: Netball Manurewa Events Centre, 95 Browns Road, Manurewa

I don't have to tell you how important this election is shaping up to be and how our country's future depends on a change in government on October 14. Only a Christopher Luxon-led National government can move our country forward again, and we simply cannot afford another three years of the Coalition of Chaos. I hope to see some of you at this public meeting!

As always, thank you for your ongoing support and please feel free to reach out to me if you need any assistance. You can get in touch by calling 09 572 0000 or emailing me at [email protected].

Kind regards,

Simeon Brown

Member of Parliament for Pakuranga

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Website