Paula Bennett
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Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett today announced a $510,000 package to help strengthen Southland’s tourism industry and attract more visitors to the region.

Tourism is a focus of the Southland Regional Development Strategy Action Plan, which aims to diversify Southland’s economy, grow the population and strengthen local business.

Steven Joyce Paula Bennett Tourism Economic Development
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The first of 14 families have begun moving into a new block of apartments in Auckland which are the result of a partnership between government agencies and community housing providers, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

“I am delighted that Housing New Zealand, the Ministry of Social Development and three providers have worked together to ensure that 14 vulnerable families have somewhere safe and secure to live and where they will receive the help they need to address issues that may be holding them back,” Mrs Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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The Government will update the Equal Pay Act and amend the Employment Relations Act to implement recommendations of the Joint Working Group on Pay Equity.

This will make it easier for women to file pay equity claims with their employers, rather than having to go through the courts. It will also assist employers in addressing those claims.

“The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Joint Working Group, which set out principles for raising and resolving pay equity claims through bargaining,” State Services Minister Paula Bennett says.

Louise Upston Michael Woodhouse Paula Bennett Workplace Relations and Safety Women State Services
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The Government is proposing to transfer up to 2500 social houses in Christchurch to community housing providers (CHPs), Ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett have announced.

The Government is progressing its ambitious Social Housing Reform Programme and the Housing New Zealand (HNZ) owned properties in Christchurch are the second tranche to be proposed for transfer, following the appointment of Accessible Properties as the preferred provider for 1124 properties and tenancies in Tauranga. 

Bill English Paula Bennett HNZC Social Housing
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A new social housing complex of 120 apartments is to be built on surplus Crown land and an adjoining Housing New Zealand site in Auckland in partnership with local iwi, Ministers Paula Bennett and Nick Smith have announced.

Housing New Zealand (HNZ) and development partners Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Gemscott Resources Limited have signed a heads of agreement to develop the 12,010sq m site on Great North Rd in Waterview into one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. All the homes will be retained by HNZ for social housing.

Paula Bennett Nick Smith Social Housing Building and Housing
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Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has brought together 10 experts from government and the private sector to provide advice on how New Zealand can adapt and build resilience to the effects of climate change.

The Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group includes representatives from central and local government, the banking and insurance sector, engineering, science, and local communities. 

Adaptation expert Dr Judy Lawrence will co-chair the group with Penny Nelson, Ministry for the Environment’s Deputy Secretary, Sector Strategy.

Paula Bennett Climate Change Issues
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New Zealand has joined countries at the 2016 UN climate change conference, COP22, in fast-tracking the implementation of the historic Paris Agreement.

Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett gave support to the Marrakech Proclamation, which highlights the global momentum on tackling climate change.

“The COP22 global meeting has reaffirmed New Zealand’s absolute commitment to playing our part in the global action to reduce climate change,” says Mrs Bennett.

Paula Bennett Climate Change Issues
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Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has announced New Zealand’s intention to extend ratification of both the Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement to include Tokelau.

Minister Bennett was speaking from Marrakech where countries who signed up to the Paris Agreement have just convened the historic first meeting of Parties to the Agreement. 

“This is a significant step, not only for Tokelau, but also for New Zealand and for the Pacific,” Minister Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Climate Change Issues
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Building is moving ahead rapidly at a site in Auckland where more than 40 families at any one time will be housed by early next year, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

Mrs Bennett visited the site at Luke St, Otahuhu, this morning where she met some of the people working on the build and was shown the techniques that have made construction so quick.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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A rise in guest nights in September shows the Government’s focus on building tourism’s shoulder season demand is paying off, Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett says.

New figures show national guest nights in September 2016 were up 6.4 per cent on the same time last year to 2.6 million, a record for September across domestic and international guests and all accommodation types.

Domestic guest nights were up 3 per cent on September 2015 to 1.6 million while international guest nights were up 12.4 per cent to 1 million.

Paula Bennett Tourism
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Spending by tourists in regional New Zealand continued to rise in the year to September 2016 after another record number of visitor arrivals in New Zealand, Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Tourism
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Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett today announced 14 tourism infrastructure projects around the country will receive $3.05 million in government co-funding support.

Through the new Regional Mid-sized Tourism Facilities Grant Fund, projects ranging from toilet facilities in Tekapo to innovative rubbish removal compactors in the Coromandel will be funded, Mrs Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Tourism
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More emergency housing places, more support for tenants and more frontline staff have been funded in the next step in the Government’s comprehensive housing plan.

The funding boost of more than $300 million will be enough for up to an extra 1400 places at any one time, 600 in Auckland and the remaining 800 places in areas of high demand around the country.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has welcomed the historic Paris Agreement, which comes into force today.

“Today is a momentous day internationally in that we have an agreement at scale that climate change is a global problem,” Mrs Bennett says.

The Paris Agreement formalises the legal framework for all countries to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Paula Bennett Climate Change Issues
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Targeted early intervention and a Social Investment approach is being reflected in the steadily improving Better Public Services (BPS) Results, Ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett say.

The Government has released the BPS mid-year report which outlines the progress being made against the 10 challenging Results set by the Prime Minister in 2012.

Paula Bennett Bill English State Services Finance
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A total of 100 families and individuals have taken up an offer of financial help to move out of Auckland, freeing up social housing for others in urgent need.

The Government introduced the grant of up to $5000 for relocation costs to help people who wanted to move from Auckland but otherwise could not afford to, on June 20, 2016.

“This is a fantastic result. This is potentially 100 homes that have been freed up for people in urgent housing need in Auckland, with more to come,” Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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State Services Minister Paula Bennett has today announced the publication of New Zealand’s second National Action Plan under the international Open Government Partnership.

“New Zealand is internationally recognised as world-leading in open and transparent government with well-established public accountability processes, advanced open data systems and a strong, high integrity public service,” Mrs Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Social Housing State Services
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An increase in the number of applicants for social housing shows people in urgent need of housing are becoming more aware that help is available to them and seeking it out, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

The number of people seeking social housing on the Housing Register at the end of September was 4602, up 725 or 18.7 per cent on the June quarter.

Another 1168 people and their families are already in social housing and on the register seeking a transfer to another house.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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A new report provides a robust and objective examination of how emissions from agriculture are created, as well as options for reducing them, Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said today.

The ministers have welcomed the report released today by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright.

Paula Bennett Nathan Guy Primary Industries Climate Change Issues
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Housing New Zealand lodged 60 resource consent applications in the last quarter which, if approved, will build houses for over 3000 people in Auckland, Ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett say.

Housing New Zealand’s Asset Development Group has lodged the consents to build 1297 new houses, which will have the potential to accommodate more than 3200 people in 20 suburbs across the city.

Paula Bennett Bill English Social Housing HNZC
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Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett has welcomed collaboration between the housing sector and agencies on a plan aimed at keeping at-risk tenants in their homes.

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Housing New Zealand Corporation and key housing sector members have come together to co-design a Sustaining Tenancies initiative in which community-based providers will work intensively with people in social housing who may be at risk of losing their tenancies because of ongoing issues.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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Improving the livelihoods of children will be at the heart of a newly established South Auckland Social Investment Board, State Services Minister Paula Bennett says.

“The costs of poor outcomes for at-risk populations in South Auckland are significant, with estimates showing that improving the outcomes for just 10 per cent of at-risk children could save close to $60 million of future costs,” Mrs Bennett says.

Paula Bennett State Services
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More than 100 state houses that would otherwise have been demolished have been given a new lease on life through a partnership between Housing New Zealand and Corrections that refurbishes the homes and also gives prisoners valuable work skills.

At Rolleston Prison in Christchurch, more than 40 houses have been restored since the ‘Second Chance’ scheme began in 2013. Another 17 are currently being refurbished and 42 have been delivered to the prison and await work.

Paula Bennett Social Housing
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International visitor guest nights have risen by more than 13 per cent, and eleven of our twelve regions have accommodated more tourists in the latest monthly data released today, Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett says.

Figures released by Statistics New Zealand show foreign visitors have helped to grow national guest nights for the year ended August 2016 by 6.1 per cent.

“We’ve seen visitor arrivals hit a record 3.36 million, holiday arrivals increasing 13 per cent, and regional tourism spending climbing,” Mrs Bennett says.

Paula Bennett Tourism