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As I write this, the snow is still on the foothills of the Tararua Ranges and there is still an icy chill in the air.
The wintry blast of July 5 and 6 and its ensuing power losses and road closures has given us all opportunity to look at how prepared we are for natural disasters.
Many farmers were without water as their pumps shut down when the power went off, thousands of Wairarapa residents were without lighting, heating and cooking facilities - some for several days.
Basic survival kits, including a primus, torches and batteries, emergency food and water supplies and candles, are inexpensive to put together but are priceless in times of need.
My thanks to the people of Norsewood for their sterling efforts in feeding and housing stranded travellers and also to anyone else who lent a helping hand.
Thanks also to the power workers who braved the elements to get electricity restored as soon as possible.
Personally I was stranded in Wellington and even on Tuesday had to drive the long way round through Palmerston North and down through Woodville to make it to Masterton for a meeting.
With this said, I'm sure there were plenty of children and even adults who made the most of the snow - I saw plenty of snow creations on my way through.
Claims are still being made that the Responsible Gambling Bill will centralise the distribution of gaming machine profits, but this simply shows that those making the claims have not read the legislation.
Predictions of serious consequences for sports, cultural and service organisations are simply not accurate and nowhere in the Bill does it say the intention is to centralise the distribution of gaming machine money.
Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins has countered the suggestion many times in the House, in press releases from his office and in speeches on the subject.
The Responsible Gambling Bill is currently before Parliament awaiting its second reading and it preserves the current arrangements where societies make grants to the community from funds raised by non-casino gaming machines.
Assuming Parliament does not change the Bill, societies will continue to be responsible for the distribution of profits to the community from such machines.
All the misinformation does is scare the many committed community organisations that benefit from gaming machine money and do wonderful work in the community.
I'm sure we all welcome the commitment by New Zealand's biggest company Fonterra to help clean up our waterways and wetlands.
Environment Minister Marian Hobbs and Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton have signed the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord with Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden, and Local Government New Zealand's Regional Affairs Committee chairman Neil Clarke.
The main thrust of the Accord takes effect in four years and represents one of New Zealand's most important environmental agreements.
Fonterra is working to targets to keep dairy cattle out of streams, lakes and wetlands, to treat farm effluent, and to manage the use of fertilisers and other nutrients.
This sends a strong message to Fonterra's markets that it produces safe foods and respects the environment.
A United Nations report has shown that New Zealand has the third highest water quality in the world - and this accord is about protecting that.
Dairying plays a vital role in our economy, processing the milk from 13,000 dairy farms, including many in Wairarapa, and generating over $6 billion annually in exports.
Police will be better able to combat computer-related crimes following the passing of the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 6).
The Bill, which comes into force on October 1, updates most of the property offences in the Crimes Act, many of which have not been changed since the Act was passed in 1961.
The Bill strengthens criminal law in many ways, and gives the Police and Serious Fraud Office more effective laws to deal with offending, especially in the area of computer-related crime.
New Zealand is one of the few Western countries that does not have specific computer offences and at present hackers can only be convicted of general criminal offences such as theft and criminal damage.
This Bill cracks down on hackers by creating offences that make it illegal to intercept, access, use or damage data held on computers without proper authorisation.
People attempting to put an Internet site off-line, or to change or delete someone else's data, will face maximum sentences of seven years' jail.
The Bill also creates new offences relating to theft and fraud committed by the use of computers, and makes it illegal to sell, distribute or possess computer hacking programmes.
In its first week of operation the 0508 HOUSEBUYBACK (0508-468-732) hotline had 44 calls from consumers and I am concerned that many people are not aware of the hotline.
Calls to the hotline show that people from many areas throughout New Zealand have been hit by home buy back schemes, with calls from Mt Maunganui, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin to name a few. As was suspected, it appears that Pacific and Māori people were targeted by many schemes.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs would like to hear from anybody who believes that they have signed up to one of these schemes, particularly if they have signed documents such as an "option to purchase" or a "licence to occupy" for their home.
The Government is considering legislative options that would ensure that such schemes operate fairly and that consumers are fully aware of what they are getting into, but to do that effectively we need information about all the different types of buy back schemes that are operating.
The hotline number is 0508 HOUSEBUYBACK (0508-468-732).
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