Valley View Column - August 2011
I am so proud of our community. I meet West Aucklanders every day who are working hard, making a difference and getting involved locally.
Recently I attended the Waitakere Police awards and I have to say our local police do a tough, often thankless job and deserve to be recognised for their hard work. Where would we be without them? Our crime rates out West have decreased by 12% over the past year. I’m extremely grateful to the police for all they do.
It was also a real pleasure to be at Henderson Valley School at the end of June as they were first to be connected up with high-speed internet as part of the National Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative. I fought hard to make sure they were in the first tranche, so it was especially gratifying to be there and celebrate that win.
Right now we have technicians running fibre optic cables through rural New Zealand, bringing fast, wireless broadband to a quarter of a million New Zealanders who have been struggling with dial up.
I’m so pleased that our children at Henderson Valley School are a part of that, so they can use the latest online learning tools and have video conferencing with other schools around the world – Henderson goes global!
Waitakere Hospital is on the list for high-speed internet too and I know the medical team will make the most of the technology to help patients.
As your local MP it has been a full on few years. Across the country I’ve been tackling the hard issues around welfare dependency and child abuse. There is no place like home though and helping locals and ensuring we have our share of initiatives like broadband still ranks as my top commitment.
I’m always keen to hear from you, please get in touch on any issue by calling my office on 817 8161 or emailing me at paula.bennett@parliament.govt.nz