Four priorities to build a brighter future

National was elected just over a year ago with a clear plan to build a faster-growing economy that can support more jobs and rising incomes.

We have stuck to that plan, in the face of ongoing economic uncertainty in many parts of the world.

We’re delivering on the four main priorities the Prime Minister set for this term of Government. We’re responsibly managing the Government’s finances so we can return to surplus and start repaying debt. We’re pushing ahead with a wide-ranging programme of economic reforms to create a more productive and competitive economy. We’re driving better results and better value from our public services. And we’re supporting the rebuilding of Christchurch – the largest economic project in New Zealand’s history.

National is confident about New Zealand’s prospects, and will continue to work hard to build a brighter future for all Kiwis.

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Building a stronger economy

National is committed to building growth and jobs through sustainably using New Zealand’s natural resources. Building a more competitive and productive economy is one of our priorities this term of Government.

The latest Business Growth Agenda progress report, Building Natural Resources, sets out 49 initiatives the Government is taking to improve the way we use and manage our resources.

It encourages businesses to find ways to become more innovative to get the best results for the economy, and the environment.

Building Natural Resources is the fifth Business Growth Agenda progress report. It follows reports on Export Markets, Innovation, Skilled and Safe Workplaces, and Infrastructure. There are more than 250 initiatives detailed across these five reports. The sixth report, Building Capital Markets, will be published early next year.

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Taking action on alcohol

National has overhauled New Zealand’s out dated alcohol laws and passed new legislation through its final reading. This is the first time in more than two decades Parliament has restricted, rather than relaxed, our drinking laws.

This Government has delivered a wide range of measures to reduce alcohol-related harm in our families and communities.

We’ve also been conscious to take a balanced approach that doesn’t unfairly penalise responsible and moderate drinkers.

Our new laws provide tools to help central and local government, communities, and parents.

We know that legislation alone will not turn around our binge-drinking problem. But National has remained committed to addressing New Zealand’s binge-drinking culture, and reducing alcohol-related harm. Our reforms can, and will, support a culture change.

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Managing earthquake-prone buildings

Rebuilding Canterbury is one of our key priorities, and Volumes 4-7 of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission report have been released.

We’ve accepted all the findings and the 70 recommendations in the first part of the report (Volumes 1-3). Some of these recommendations have already been implemented, while others are being worked on.

The Government will carefully consider the 119 recommendations made in Volume 4 and Volumes 5-7, many of which require policy and legislative changes.

We want to ensure our earthquake-prone buildings policy system is balanced between protecting people from harm, and managing the economic implications of earthquake-prone buildings. Have your say: www.dbh.govt.nz/consultingon-epbp

The Government expects to issue a comprehensive response to the Royal Commission’s full report by early to mid-next year.

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Making information on health services more accessible

National is delivering better health services to New Zealanders, and is now making it easier for families to access important health information for their region.

This week the Government rolled out a new web tool, My DHB, which pulls DHB-specific information together in one place.

Information available on My DHB includes rest home audits, health funding, and health targets results, along with contact details for important medical staff.

This information was spread across many websites, and has not always been easy to find.

Having the information easily accessible in one place allows the public to make better-informed choices about their healthcare, and is another example of National delivering better public services, one of our priorities this term.

The My DHB web tool can be found at www.mydhb.health.govt.nz

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Fresh Start reforms delivering positive results

National’s Fresh Start is about getting smarter in how we deal with young offenders, and we are making great progress. It is an important part of our plan to deliver better public services.

Youth justice family group conference referrals are down 12 per cent in two years, and a total of 1373 young people are receiving mentoring under Fresh Start. This is a strong uptake, well above the 300 places each year originally envisaged.

Military Style Activity Camps (MAC Camps), which target the most serious young offenders, are also producing encouraging early results, including a 52 per cent drop in violent crime by MAC graduates.

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Celebrating The Hobbit

This week we celebrated our film industry as Wellington rolled out the red carpet for the world premiere of Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The premiere is a pat on the back for all New Zealanders, with many of our communities having been involved in this production.

Producing these big budget films here is worth $3 billion across our economy. Our vibrant screen industry directly supports more than 2700 businesses, of which over 95 per cent are involved in production and post-production work.

About 3000 people have been employed fulltime on The Hobbit films to date, and more than $1.5 million a week was paid to the shooting crew alone.

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