He Tohu, a new permanent exhibition of three nation-building constitutional documents that shape Aotearoa New Zealand, was officially opened by Her Excellency, the Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy, GNZM QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand, today at the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.

The exhibition, which opens to the public from Saturday 20 May, has been developed in partnership between Crown and Māori, with significant input from women’s groups.

It features:

The launch of national guiding principles for preventing and managing pressure injuries is being welcomed by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne and ACC Minister Michael Woodhouse.

“It’s estimated that every year around 55,000 people suffer from pressure injuries, with more than 3000 of these causing significant harm,” says Dr Coleman.

New Zealand Post today issued a set of three stamps to commemorate the opening of He Tohu, a new permanent exhibition of New Zealand’s iconic constitutional documents at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington.

The stamp series was launched at Parliament by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon Peter Dunne, accompanied Taku Parai, representing the He Tohu Iwi Leader Partner Group, and New Zealand Post Chair Jane Taylor.

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne today announced funding of $8 million of operating funding over the next two years and $2.1 million of capital funding in the next year in Budget 2017 to safeguard New Zealand’s heritage collections and record of Government.

Budget 2017 invests an additional $59.2 million over four years to ensure all road ambulance call outs are double crewed, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne and ACC Minister Michael Woodhouse say.

“The Government is focused on getting patients the care they need when they need it, and our ambulance services have a key role to play in this,” Dr Coleman says.

Police Minister Paula Bennett, Communications Minister Simon Bridges and Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne, today announced a new caller location system for 111 mobile phone calls that will improve public safety and help save lives.

“The new system will automatically provide emergency services with a probable location of a caller when they dial 111,” Mrs Bennett says.

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne is delighted to host a Beehive Code Club event in Parliament today, where primary school students are to conduct  a coding session with MPs and government officials as part of Techweek 2017.

The 30 students from local primary schools and Ngai Tahu are members of Code Club Aotearoa, a charity that aims to give every Kiwi kid the chance to learn to code for free.

“Like reading and maths, coding has become a core skill we need to foster in our kids today.

Internal Affairs Minister Hon Peter Dunne today announced that $1 million of 2016/17 Lottery Grants Board reserves, resulting from profits of New Zealand Lotteries, has been allocated to a Lottery Grants Board Subcommittee set up especially to provide immediate assistance to Edgecumbe and the surrounding community affected by the Rangitaiki River stopbank breach.

Internal Affairs Minister Hon Peter Dunne today announced the appointment of Maxine Shortland to the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.

“Ms Shortland is the Chief Operating Officer of the Ngāti Hine Health Trust, overseeing its operations and executive, strategic, relationship and change management. Her demonstrated experience in the community and voluntary sector, business acumen and governance skills will make a valuable contribution to the Board,” said Mr Dunne.

Ms Shortland’s term commenced on 1 May 2017.

In a fitting coincidence with International Firefighters Day today, Parliament has passed the third reading of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill. This Bill marks most significant change to New Zealand’s fire legislation in 70 years. It creates a single fire organisation – Fire and Emergency New Zealand, and brings together New Zealand’s rural, urban, paid and volunteer firefighters for the first time.

Three of New Zealand’s most precious constitutional documents were moved to a new location in a unique ceremonial procession in Wellington overnight.

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne is delighted to announce that a key initiative by the Department of Internal Affairs, SmartStart, has won a prestigious international award for excellence in innovation and communication.

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has announced SmartStart as a Merit winner in the 2017 Gold Quill Awards programme. The programme recognises business communication excellence globally, and is acknowledged as one of the most prestigious awards programmes in the industry.

Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has announced the new levy rates which will fund the unified national fire and emergency service – Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

From 1 July 2017, Fire and Emergency New Zealand will deliver fire and emergency services across the country. The organisation will bring together volunteer and paid, urban and rural firefighters, to deliver a comprehensive national emergency service.

Associate Minister of Conservation, Hon Peter Dunne, welcomed the launch of the Mountain Safety Council's report into Hunter-Safety called A Hunter’s Tale yesterday.

“As I have previously said, this report represents a significant moment in our country’s collective understanding of the nature, scale and risks of hunting in New Zealand,” said Mr Dunne. 

"The report comes after a rigorous collection and analysis of data to produce a first-of-its kind snapshot of the current context hunters in New Zealand live in.