Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to visit Timaru

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to visit Timaru on Tuesday with a busy day planned.

Ardern’s itinerary will include a talk with South Canterbury business owners at the Landing Service Building at an event organised by Venture Timaru and the Timaru District Council, to be chaired by Timaru District mayor Nigel Bowen.

The lunch is limited to 100 guests due to Covid-19 restrictions. Ardern will also visit South Pacific Sera, and some community service workers later in the day.

The visit comes a day after the PM announced the country will remain in Covid-alert Level 2 until at least next week. This is the first time Ardern has visited Timaru since becoming PM in October 2017.

She had previously planned to visit Timaru on August 12, but the visit was postponed when she announced Auckland would enter a three-day level 3 lockdown at midday on August 12, with the rest of the country moving to alert level 2.

Her 12 August itinerary also included a lunch at the Landing Service Building.

That meal was sold off for charity by the caterers, raising money for the Mid South Island Women’s Refuge and Family Safety Services, and the Timaru Mental Health Support Trust.