Blueprint for Christchurch city centre

We're committed to doing what it takes to help Christchurch rebuild and recover so I was delighted to unveil the blueprint for a new city centre with Gerry Brownlee in Christchurch this week.

The blueprint will see a new compact and vibrant Christchurch city centre with plenty of green spaces. It is built on the foundation of ideas provided by those who live, work and play there, and adapted to ensure the city can be accessed and enjoyed by all who visit.

In this video I talk about the rebuilding of my old hometown - Christchurch - and my visit to Samoa marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship.

As always, I'm very interested in your responses.

Gift of education marks 50 years of friendship

New Zealand has close links with our Pacific neighbours based on friendship, trust, mutual respect, family and historical ties, and a shared Polynesian heritage.

This week I led a delegation of political leaders, church leaders, sports and business people, as well as academics, to Samoa to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between our two countries.

During the visit I was pleased to announce funding of around $5 million to give years 9 to 11 state secondary school students in Samoa access to fee-free education.

In brief

Transport: On Thursday I marked a milestone in this country's biggest roading project - the $1.4 billion Waterview Connection in Auckland - by breaking the ground for twin 2.4km long tunnels to improve travel times for transport operators, businesses, commuters, and tourists.

This Road of National Significance will help deliver on one of the National-led Government's priorities for this term - to continue building a more competitive and productive economy.

Education: This Government has an unrelenting focus on raising achievement for all our students.

We took another step towards this on Thursday, announcing the framework for the New Zealand Charter school model to be known as Partnership Schools or Kura Hourua. Partnership schools will help lift achievement in low-decile areas and disadvantaged communities.

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From my diary

Today I'm out and about in West Auckland with Waitakere MP Paula Bennett visiting various businesses and schools.

Yesterday, I hosted an hour-long programme on RadioLive, which included interviews with Sir David Frost, former Australian prime minister John Howard, and Wellington chef Al Brown.

Regards,

John Key
Prime Minister

www.johnkey.co.nz