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If you want to play a part in the significant decisions that affect the health of your community then now is the time to act.
Elections for District Health Boards (DHBs) will be held in October this year, with nearly 150 places available for people passionate about the health of their community, including Wairarapa.
Many people have views about how funding for health services should be allocated in their region.
If you want to make a difference to the health of your community, now is the time to consider standing in the elections. We need elected members of different ages, ethnicities and genders to reflect the diversity of our communities.
DHBs have the responsibility of allocating funding for health and disability services in your region. There are 21 boards in total and all are responsible for ensuring that your district's health and disability needs are catered for.
A toll-free information line (0508 9 10 2004) has been established for people interested in standing for their DHB or local council.
Nominations for candidates open on July 23 and close on August 20.
I encourage prospective candidates to consider getting involved now.
This year's DHB elections will be held using the single transferable vote (STV) system where voters rank their desired candidates in order of preference.
The DHB elections will also use "at-large" structures where voters have a say in the election of all elected board members instead of just the ones that were in their ward or constituency.
For further information on standing as a candidate:
The new Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill is to be introduced this month but will not contain any reference to citizenship by birth issues.
The issue of citizenship by birth, for instance of babies born in this country to mothers who are not New Zealand nationals, is an issue separate to matters covered in the Identity Bill.
Issues around this aspect of New Zealand citizenship are still being worked on by several government agencies and no decisions have yet been made.
The Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill will amend the Citizenship Act 1977 and the Passports Act 1992. The Bill rectifies problems with the grant of citizenship, will improve border security and reduce the likelihood of successful forgery and misuse of New Zealand travel documents.
Under the Citizenship Act 1977 migrants can be granted citizenship after settling permanently in New Zealand and meeting a number of specified requirements.
The Bill will increase the standard period of residence in New Zealand that applicants must meet from three years to five years. In addition, time spent in the country on temporary permits, such as work or visitor's permits, will no longer count as a period of residence for citizenship proposes. This will ensure consistency with New Zealand's Immigration policy and provide a sufficient basis for assessments of applicants' suitability for citizenship.
The Bill creates new offences of unlawfully issuing a citizenship document and unlawfully altering citizenship records. These offences will carry a maximum penalty of a term of imprisonment of 10 years and/or a fine of $50,000.
The Bill also amends the Passports Act 1992, which provides for the issue, renewal and cancellation of New Zealand travel documents. In general, New Zealand passports are valid for 10 years from the date of issue, or five years if the holder is under 16 years of age.
However, international experience shows that the 10-year period is now too long because counterfeiting techniques have become more and more sophisticated. The longer a passport has been in circulation, the greater the chance that its security features will become outdated and easily altered or duplicated. To reduce the likelihood of successful forgery of New Zealand passports, the Bill will reduce the maximum validity of new passports from 10 years to five years.
The Bill will provide for the disclosure of New Zealand travel document information for the border security system known as Advance Passenger Processing (APP). APP identifies unauthorised passengers before they can depart for New Zealand by enabling airlines to check the validity of a passenger's travel document details against an up-to-date electronic record of passport, visa and alert information.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 requires States to prevent the movement of terrorists by having controls on the issue of travel documents. The Bill amends the Passports Act to provide for the Minister of Internal Affairs to cancel or refuse to issue, a New Zealand travel document in cases where national security is threatened.
This provision contains a number of procedural safeguards. For example, the decline period will be restricted to 12 months, and the person denied the travel document may appeal the Minister's decision to the High Court. The 12-month decline period may only be renewed by the High Court, and the Court must be satisfied that the grounds for refusal to issue the travel document still apply.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), due to be signed at the end of this month between the Immigration Service and Police, will not see Police target illegal immigrants.
Currently Police come across illegal immigrants in the course of their day-to-day duties and inquiries, and the MOU would formalise the relationship between both agencies.
Police would be able to access an Immigration Service 24 hour helpline where significant doubt existed around someone's immigration status.
The ability to access this information will be specific to particular cases and will not, as some have suggested, usher in a regime of Police discrimination against people with different coloured skin or accents.
It does not mean that Police would have open access to immigration files, but would allow the Service to alert Police of the immigration status of an individual.
Congratulations to the team at the Kura Whanau Clinic. Last week Dr Cath Becker, Janine Vollebregt, and Jill Perry were presented with the "People's Choice" award, at the New Zealand Health Innovations Awards dinner in Wellington.
The Kura Whanau Clinic received the highest approval rating of the 25 finalists from around New Zealand.
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