Cost of living remains the top concern facing our communities across Northcote and across our great country.

Thankfully, there are many changes that came into force over the past month that will help ease cost-of-living pressures for Kiwi families, such as:

• No more Auckland regional fuel tax, saving motorists 11.5 cents per litre
• Being able to claim back up to 25% of early childhood education fees, to a maximum fortnightly amount of $150
• Increases in weekly paid parental leave from $712 to $754 (maximum allowable)
• Bringing the bright line test for taxing financial gains from property sales down from five and ten-year periods to a more balanced two-year period
• Adjusted income tax brackets for inflation, giving hard-working Kiwis the first income tax reduction in 14 years

These changes alone won’t improve lives, but they are a step in the right direction and offer some practical help to Kiwi families doing it tough in these challenging economic times.

The only way out of the economic recession we are in is to ensure inflation comes down as quickly as possible, by cutting wasteful spending, and growing our economy.

That’s what our coalition government remains ruthlessly focused on and it is showing signs of success. Annual inflation is now its lowest in three years at 3.3%.

In addition to this, restoring law and order in our communities remains a top focus for the coalition. Recently we announced our next quarterly action plan and by the end of that action plan our government will have passed laws that will:

• Give police tougher powers to disrupt and crack down on gangs in public
• Give police more power to get guns out of the hands of criminals
• Increase access to effective rehabilitation for prisoners on remand
• Improve efficiency in the courts and increase access to justice.

We’ve got a plan to grow our economy, and it is working. Economic growth is the only way that we can lift living standards for all Kiwis and get our country back on track.

As always, please feel free to contact my office if there’s anything we can help with.

See you in our community!

Dan Bidois
MP for Northcote