Vanessa Roberts is UnitedFuture’s candidate for the Ilam electorate in 2011.

Vanessa is a Community Physiotherapist with the Canterbury District Health Board, Older Persons Health division.  She is married with three children in their 20’s. She has been involved in the volunteer sector for many years as Divisional Manager of a St John Youth Division, on kindergarten committees, as a soccer coach for a children’s team, hosting American Field Service students (AFS) and coordinating AFS activities, and in leadership roles for all ages within her local church.  

Vanessa has been a member of UnitedFuture since 2005 and stood in the Wigram electorate in the 2005 and 2008 General Elections.  

Having worked in a variety of physiotherapy roles, in both the private and public sectors, Vanessa has hands on experience and knowledge of the health sector, and a desire to see improved efficiency and quality services available in a timely manner.

Vanessa believes strongly in personal responsibility and achievement being balanced with social responsibility. This is why Vanessa is standing again for UnitedFuture in 2011.

To create a better New Zealand now and for the future, we need a strong and resilient economy, excellence in education and a healthy environment. Vanessa’s desire is to be able to work toward accomplishing these.  

ufnz4ilam@paradise.net.nz

Top 5 Issues

1. A fairer tax system for families through income sharing.
   
   Most families budget on the combined income of the parents. Government sees it that way too in that if one spouse is working the other spouse cannot claim the unemployment benefit because the income is seen as applying to both. So how come this is not reflected in the tax system?
   When the parents' incomes are added and divided by two this benefits the family through altering the tax brackets they are in.
   This is a fairer way to tax families.
2. Choices about Superannuation
   As we have an ageing population we can no longer bury our head in the sand about the cost of superannuation.
   Retirement planning should allow our older people to gradually move out of the work force, at the same time providing mentoring for those who will replace them. Flexibility in terms of retirement age is a step in the right direction.
   Choosing when you want to receive superannuation allows the individual to consider factors such as ethnicity (in terms of longevity), the nature of the work they do and the demands it puts on them, their aspirations and plans for their retirement, their health, personal and family situation.
3. Education is our future.
   At the primary level we need "parent friendly" national standards which are acceptable to educationalists and teachers.
   At the secondary level we need a system which caters for all, so that there are no gender or ethnic variances in achievement.The qualifications need to be relevant to what industry requires and held in high regard internationally.
   At the tertiary level we need quality that is affordable. United Future's zero-fees assists in making tertiary education more accessible to all.
4. We need to look after the environment in order to look after ourselves.
   Funding investment into research of sustainable energy forms, ensuring that these are implemented and the innovation is not lost to New Zealand, is a step in the right direction.
   Planting native trees and bush along or close by inland waterways to limit soil erosion, reduce agricultural runoff and improve water quality is also beneficial to our environment.
5. New Zealand is a greeat county to live in. We need to be able to continue to enjoy it!
   UnitedFuture will work towards ensuring public access to all resources including game, waterways and coastline.
   Also, we need to ensure that game hunting does not become the preserve of those who can afford to chase and slaughter animals from the comfort of a helicopter cockpit!

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