Ingrid Leary MP

If you’re heading to the Brighton Gala Day stop in for a chat and let us know your thoughts on our Issues Board….

Did you know that Robbie Burns has more statues in his honour globally than any other non-religious figure?

What a wonderful way to celebrate our beloved bard Robbie Burns — at a Burns Supper with friends from across Dunedin, hosted by the UK in New Zealand at the very fitting venue of Lanarch Castle, Dunedin.

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Good to see politicians from all sides of the House acknowledging the gendered aspect of abuse towards politicians…. Here’s what I had to say as Opposition spokesperson on mental health 👇

Politicians back calls for mental health supports at Parliament An increase in support for MPs' mental health seems possible following Golriz Ghahraman's resignation, with politicians from left and right alike turning their attention to it.

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Abuse is levelled at politicians of all political stripes however it’s particularly personal, involves more threats of violence and is often sexualised towards women — and even more so for women of colour. Evidence suggests some of the normalisation of abuse is imported from populist politics funded overseas; certainly the media and social media have a role to play in ensuring their story gathering is not vulnerable to gotcha journalism anddirty politics agendas.

Otago University has been doing a longitudinal study evidencing the trends and the cross- party Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) group which I co-chaired held discussions about increasing concerns in this area over the previous parliamentary term.

I’m keen for the Cross-Party Mental Health and Addictions Wellbeing Group to make this a priority because the parliamentary house needs to be in order if we are to be able to support NZ wide initiatives on mental wellbeing. I’ll be sure to put this on the agenda, as the Opposition spokesperson on mental health and Labour member of that cross party group.

Today I discussed this and many other issues relating to mental health with Hayden Wano, Chair of Te Hiringa Mahara — The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission 👇

New Dunedin Hospital — clear election promises were made.

Health Minister Shane Reti needs to be be honest about the Government’s intentions for the new Dunedin Hospital and honour election National’s election pledges. He and PM Christopher Luxon should come to Dunedin urgently to meet with local health advocates and medical professional bodies and I’m happy to convene that if it makes a difference to outcomes for the hospital.

It’s dishonest, frankly, to campaign on election promises and then turn around and say that business cases must be done and meetings must be held. Dr Reti is trying to wiggle his way out of promises he and his Party used to get into Government. It’s deceitful and shows once again why National can’t be trusted.

In July, National made a very big deal of announcing a $30m plan for the hospital. The funds would pay for 23 inpatient beds, two operating theatres and the country’s first publicly owned PET scanner.

National campaigned on promises to build the hospital to meet the capacity specifications originally intended. These promises were repeatedly touted on the campaign trail by National leader Christopher Luxon, Dr Reti and Taieri candidate Matthew French.

Why won’t Dr Reti now confirm that the $30m boost will go ahead?

Labour promised to provide a separate pathology building within 1000m of the new hospital.

Dr Reti won’t say whether the building will go ahead under National despite it being the a review into appropriate service provision for the hospital — and something local Labour MPs fought hard to get.

The new Dunedin hospital was a major election issue and remains a priority concern for the people of Dunedin, Otago and Southland. The Government needs to come clean about its intentions.

I’m happy to host Dr Reti and the Prime Minister for a meeting with local health advocates if that makes a difference.

Govt committed to hospital, but $30m pledge up in air The government says it is committed to the new Dunedin hospital — but has not confirmed it will honour its $30 million election pledge. Minister...

Happy 20th birthday tomorrow Friday to our daughter Lily Rose Atu… you bring so much joy wherever you go. We couldn’t be more proud….

It’s a wonderful privilege to be able to contribute to fundraising for a much-needed new first responder vehicle for the Turangi region through yoga. We have raised more than $1,200 through our daily koha classes… and other fundraising means we are close to the home stretch for the 90K vehicle. Thanks to yogi extraordinaire Rusty from Hot Yoga of New Zealand, Wellington & Lower Hutt Studios for leading the charge and being such an inspiration to us all. It has been lovely to mix up practising in his classes and leading my own ones, heading into the new year.

This is fantastic news for our community!

We’re deeeelighted because the bowling club will be staying around in Cavy for 10 years 🎉

Our landlord was initially planning to bowl the building down and redevelop the section, but we’ve come to an agreement to keep the bowling club rolling out of here for a decade. 🥣

We’re excited to see where time takes us all together, and are happy to make this place feel more like home to many of us. 💛

We’ll be doing some renovations to make the space more suitable for our business in the long-run, and we could use some help. We’ll make some posts over the next couple weeks about specific jobs and needs, so stay tuned if you’re keen to follow along. 🔨

Wishing you all a very happy new year, and we look forward to sharing kai with you all again on January 16th. We miss ya! ❤️

Mum… 87 today!

We were blessed to be together as a family this Christmas — Mum’s heroic journey with cancer making it something of a miracle to have this special time together. Sadly Danny tested positive for Covid so had to spend the evening in the “covid corner” of the balcony down the far end, double-masked, eating alone and strumming Christmas tunes on the guitar. Happy Christmas tunes though — not sad ones. We did the same last year when I had Covid so we have a Christmas Covid routine going. And we’ll get to hang out again in a week or so.

Amazing!

We’ve got food to feed hundreds of you and would love to celebrate Christmas morning together! Come on over anytime between 9am and 12pm for quiche, savoury scrolls, fresh bread, pavlova, cookies, shortbread, cake, coffee, tea & togetherness. Everything is free, and we’d love to be with you. 💛🎄

Meri Kirihimete for tomorrow Aotearoa! We hope you all having a lovely day surrounded by joy, love and warmth, wherever you are. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩷

Christmas is a time for visiting loved ones.. I spent a chunk of today with my dear Aunty Moira on my Dad’s side… she turns 90 next May. I hope you’re getting to see friends and relatives too…

Artist: NME

Trans women are women. End of story.