- By Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister and MP for Botany
Our Government has completed one year in office, and we are continuing to take bold action to rebuild the economy, address the cost of living, restore law and order, and deliver better health and education.
At the heart of our work this year has been to ease some of the financial pressure families are facing.
That’s why, in our first Budget, we provided tax relief to 83 per cent of New Zealanders who are now keeping more of their own money – the first tax relief Kiwis have had in 14 years.
Over 40,000 households are benefiting from our FamilyBoost payments, and our welfare reforms are helping young people to transition into the workforce.
Our work to drive new trade agreements and enhance current relationships with key partners is unlocking opportunities for our exporters and will boost our economy.
We’ve led eight trade missions, concluded three trade agreements, and resolved another 16 barriers to trade because putting more high-value Kiwi products on shelves overseas means more jobs and higher incomes at home.
We’re making progress in restoring law and order, with police foot patrols up 30 per cent and ram raids down 60 per cent. Overall victimisations have dropped three per cent.
Our laws to crack down on gangs are already having an impact, our Military-Style Academy has successfully completed its pilot, and new laws toughening sentences for serious criminals will be in place next year.
We’ve invested a record $16.68 billion over three budgets into health, and we’re targeting the delivery of faster cancer treatments, shorter ED and elective surgery wait times, and improved immunisation for our children.
Our additional $604 million funding for Pharmac is already getting Kiwis access to up to 26 cancer treatments, with a total of up to 54 more new medicines available.
In schools, we’ve banned phones in classrooms, required an hour a day each of maths, reading and writing, we’re rolling out structured literacy and maths and increasing support for teachers so kids can grow the skills they need to succeed.
Term 3 attendance is up 5.3 per cent on last year and we’re relentlessly focused on our ambitious target to have 80 per cent of students present for more than 90 per cent of the term by 2030.
The future of our economy relies on kids being in school and succeeding today.
We were elected to improve the lives of New Zealanders in the areas that matter most.
Our Government is committed to keeping that promise with bold action to rebuild and grow our economy, restore law and order, and deliver better health and education for all Kiwis.
