Rangitikei looking to have a great year

I am looking forward to this comparative buoyancy continuing and thus providing new job opportunities for people in our country towns.BACK in the House this week after a week working in and around the electorate and looking forward to the opportunity to participate as a fully-fledged member of Parliament, having got my maiden speech out of the way on the last sitting day.

The past week has been taken up opening my Taumarunui office, which will service the area from Taumarunui in the north to Raetihi and Ohakune further south, and will be managed by Kay Kidd for some 10 hours a week on Mondays and Thursdays.

The area from Waiouru to the coast in the Rangitikei district will be serviced out of the Marton office and managed by Jacky Short. I will also be offering clinics in Taihape and Raetihi, as demand becomes apparent.

My basic aim is to service the south through Feilding on Fridays, and the west and north on Mondays as time permits. There is a lot of travel involved in moving around the Rangitikei electorate, and it involves a few long days, but that is the life of a politician, and it is certainly necessary to enable my team and I to service this electorate as well as possible.

Apart from reopening the Taumarunui office and meeting a number of people over matters in the area, we called into all other towns on the way back to Tangimoana.

The Rangitikei is certainly in great order and looking to have one of the best years in recent memory. This bodes well for our small towns as they and their businesses rely heavily on the financial performance of the agricultural sector for their well-being.

I am looking forward to this comparative buoyancy continuing and thus providing new job opportunities for people in our country towns and, eventually, the ability to pay higher wages - both factors very important if we are to continue to build the economic strength of this country.

One last thing: the rugby season and the best cricket tour we have witnessed for years are under way at the same time - difficult for the sports nuts to know which way to turn.