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What is important for my family? Election pending...

With the Election looming I have been thinking a lot about what things I value and what is important to our new little family of 3.

Housing....

As many of you know we've been looking to buy a house for over a year now. It's exhausting and time consuming and we've put in a lot of offers and keep missing out. We've saved up our deposit ourselves and we want nothing more than to have our own little piece of NZ to call home. The problem is...so does everyone else! We just can't seem to get in and it's pretty devastating.

Sunshine, space and no mould please...

We've been living in a really dark flat for the past 18 months. Not only is it dark but it's also damp. The outlook is beautiful (we can see Wellington harbour and lots of bush) but the lack of light, the damp smell and crying windows really gets you down! I found this especially depressing when I was working full-time. Coming home in daylight savings to a cold, dark house. It's not a 'feel good' atmosphere for anyone especially a sick pregnant lady. I think our house gets a grand total of about 3 hours of proper sunlight during the day before it goes behind the hills. I'm home everyday now and I've realised just how important light and sun is in my house. We have made it a priority in our house hunt list but its actually really hard to find. After talking to friends I've realised our house is by no means the outlier, so many people have or do currenty live in damp houses. Come on New Zealand! We can do better.

The environment...

I'd like my little boy to love nature and respect our environment.  I was lucky enough to grow up on a farm and value the immense benefits that gave my sister and I.  I'd also like there to be rivers and lakes for him to swim in like I did as a child.  I believe nature is our greatest teacher and can't imagine a childhood for him that doesn't involves swimming, tree climbing and chicken chasing. It's a huge part of why we moved home from overseas and it pains me to think about all those dirty rivers right now.

We need to take care of our Mother Earth so she can take care of us.

Education...

Obviously this is always going to be at the forefront of my mind having studied at uni for 5 years , worked as a uni tutor, trained as a primary teacher then an Early Childhood Teacher. I've been teaching in our beautiful country for almost 9 years now (7 of those in ECE). I love my job and I honestly don't think theres anything I'd rather do. Unfortunately teaching doesn't have the best reputation in our country for being a well paid or valuable profession and I think the government needs to put some work into changing that.

I want the best teachers teaching all of our children. People who are smart, dedicated and work tirelessly not just for the love (like a lot of us do) but because its a good paying job that is respected. Right now... its not! The amount I earn is barely enough to pay my rent and groceries each week let alone any other bills. THAT IS WRONG!


Our health and our babies...

After my somewhat traumatic birth experience I spent a long time in hospital and I'm pretty crushed to say our health system is under immense strain. I had no idea about the incredible people working there, doing these insanely long hours and still struggling to care for their patients. It really put a lot into perspective for me about how important your health is and why we need to better manage our health resources and our budget.

Family and friends are our number one priority...

I've been blessed with many awesome Antenatal class friends and also some crazy good long term friends that we've had since we moved here almost 10 years ago now. These are the people who make your life that little bit sweeter, kinder and more fun. They know you inside and out and the just care about you. You really can't ask for more than great friends and I think we are so lucky to have them in our lives. What would I like for my friends? Easier and cheaper health services... because whats more importnat than your health? the answer is nothing!

With those things in mind I'm going to choose a party I think will make some of those much needed changes for our future. A party I believe is future focused and can give me more things for our kids and our families and friends.

Whatever your views just remember to get out there tomorrow and VOTE!  You can't complain if you didn't tick any boxes with the giant orange pen.



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