Higher Incomes: The Prime Minister’s Statement To Parliament (As proposed by The New Zealand Labour Party)
It’s my privilege to present this annual statement to Parliament setting out the government’s priorities for the year ahead.
Last year, National took office with the support and cooperation of the Act Party and the Maori Party in agreements that set out to be close and mana-enhancing relationships.
I congratulate both parties on hanging in there, and giving their support to the government - from wherever their members and their partners happen to be at any particular time.
We have governed through our first year against a backdrop of a tough global economy, in which every country faced testing times.
The Government declared in the Speech from the Throne in December 2008, that economic growth in 2009 was forecast to be low. It turned out to be worse than that - the economy didn’t grow at all.
Some of our major trading partners, China and Australia, took bold and convincing steps to confront the oncoming economic tests - and they never went into recession.
Fortunately, the rest of the world’s largest economies are already on the road to recovery from the global financial crisis too.
Because our trading partners are growing stronger, today, the outlook for New Zealand is much better.
New Zealand will benefit from international economic recovery come this year, with the IMF projecting world economic growth of 3.9 per cent.
At the start of the Government’s term in office, we announced our driving goal was to grow the New Zealand economy.
Today it’s clear we need to widen our goal. As the recovery unfolds, it is essential that the gains are enjoyed by the people who were called upon to make the greatest sacrifice in the tough times.
The families whose budgets were stretched as prices rose while their incomes were frozen, or fell.
The working people who lost their jobs or had their hours cut through no fault of their own.
Neighbourhood businesses whose profits were eroded or wiped out as customers stopped buying.
They have to be the priority for the Government this year.
National is ambitious for New Zealand. Really, we are.
Read the full address here.