Ruth Dyson: Warm wishes for Christmas

As we are in the "how many sleeps to go" part of the year, I want to send you a warm message for Christmas and the New Year.

It has been a long and hard year for many people, and for some it is by no means over yet. The earthquake of 4th September and the aftershocks really have changed our region. The response from so many within our community of looking after and out for each other has been wonderful and reassuring.

We need to keep doing that! It is amazing how much of a positive difference can be made when someone shows care and concern for another person. It's always a good time of year to do that, but it is particularly important at Christmas, when so many other pressures and stresses are obvious.

Labour has had a good year, holding the Government to account, showing the public the truth behind their spin, and working really hard both in Parliament and at home in our electorates to help people who are bearing the brunt of government policy. The tax cuts in the budget went to the highest income earners, everyone has had a hike in GST, and there have been savage cuts in key frontline services in health, particularly hitting our older residents, and cuts too in early childhood education funding.

Next year is election year, so we will be pulling all our campaign volunteers together for a lot of hard work in order to keep Port Hills Labour and also to get our Party Vote win back again. So rest up well over summer and I look forward to you being part of the campaign next year!

Have a safe and relaxing Christmas and New Year period with family and friends.

Best wishes, Ruth.

[Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51888819@N00/320819153]