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It is a privilege to stand here as your Finance Spokesperson.

Today, I want to make a clear commitment - to you and to the country.

Out of the wreckage of Christopher Luxon's broken promises and economic mismanagement, Labour will restore hope.

We will lift living standards.

We will make sure work pays.

We will fix our health system.

We will invest in homegrown businesses and jobs.

We will create wealth in every corner of our country.

And together, we will win New Zealand its future back.  

When people have decent jobs that pay well;

When families can rely on good healthcare;

When homes are warm, secure, and more affordable - our country thrives.

Jobs. Health. Homes.

These are the foundations of a good life - and the foundations of a strong economy.

But right now, those foundations are being weakened.

Across the country I meet families who can't afford the essentials.

People who can't get to a doctor.

Young New Zealanders who don't see a future for themselves here.

Christopher Luxon promised to fix the economy and the cost of living.

He has failed.

Growth is weak.

Wages are flat.

Power bills are up.

Food prices are up.

And people are leaving the country in record numbers.

National has had two years to come up with a serious plan to grow the economy and ease the cost of living.

Two years to show ambition.

Two years to back New Zealand's potential.

They have failed.

What have we seen instead?

Tax breaks for speculators and tobacco companies.

Handouts to fossil fuel companies.

Over half a billion dollars wasted on cancelled ferries.

Record job losses and the loss of community programmes from reckless cuts.

This government has no plan for New Zealand.

They are looking overseas - instead of backing our own people.

They are turning away from the future - instead of shaping it.

They've lost credibility - and New Zealand has lost patience.

Christopher Luxon's vision is of a smaller, narrower New Zealand.

My vision is a country that believes in itself - and backs itself.

As a mother of eight - I know what it means to manage responsibly and make every dollar count.

Taxpayers' money should be spent with the same care.

When I was growing up, every cent mattered.

While we raised our young family on one income, every cent mattered.

When I was a tax lawyer working with small businesses, every cent mattered. 

That's the approach I will take as Minister of Finance.

Getting the economy growing and balancing the books means we can't say yes to everything - and I make no apology for that.

Responsibility must always come first.

My job will be to make the hard, careful choices that grow the economy and give businesses and families the stability they need to plan.

We won't fix everything overnight, but as Finance Minister I will deliver the stability we need to build the future our country deserves.

I will be ambitious and hopeful about New Zealand's future - while realistic about the work ahead.

I am not just going to balance the books.

I am going to drive New Zealand forward.

That requires investment.

Careful, credible government investment is how we grow the economy.

It is how we back new businesses, lift wages, and build our national wealth.

So, the question is not whether we invest, but how we invest.

And I will do it with discipline.

With honesty about the trade-offs.

And with a rock-solid commitment that every dollar is working for the long-term good of New Zealand.

I will direct our economy towards solving the biggest challenges we face - like climate change and inequality - through innovation and investment.

Economic growth doesn’t sit on one side and the solutions to our problems on the other.

Solving the challenges we face is the economic strategy.

A Labour Government won't sit back and hope the market delivers.

A Labour Government will set the direction - and back New Zealand to succeed.

As Finance Minister my role isn't simply to redistribute what exists.

It is to create new wealth in every part of the country - and ensure everyone benefits.

To that we must be bolder.

We must invest.

We must back our own potential.

Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis say they “get it” - but they have no idea what life is really like for most New Zealanders.

No idea what it feels like to stand in the supermarket aisle, putting food back on the shelf because you can’t afford it.

No idea what it’s like to sit at the kitchen table late at night, staring at the bills, wondering how on earth it’s going to add up this week.

They are completely out of touch.

And New Zealand has had enough.

When my parents came from Samoa in the 1970s, like so many migrant families, they came to the "land of milk and honey" to give their children a better life.

They sweated on factory floors, so we could have a better start.

Like every parent, I want a better future for my kids - and I know that’s what you want for yours.

If we want a future made in New Zealand, we must invest in New Zealand.

That’s why one of our first big steps is the New Zealand Future Fund.

The Future Fund will back Kiwi innovation, support high-skill jobs, and ensure the wealth created here stays here.

It will shift investment away from property speculation and into the businesses and industries that create real wealth and real jobs.

And it will create jobs so people can build good lives here at home, instead of being forced to look overseas.

The New Zealand I see is full of talent, ingenuity, and ambition.

But years of underinvestment have left too many great Kiwi ideas without support.

And too much wealth flowing offshore.

The Future Fund will fix that.

Christopher Luxon wants to sell our assets.

We will protect them.

He wants more foreign ownership. We want more New Zealand ownership.

A future made in New Zealand, for New Zealanders, by New Zealanders.

But we can’t build that future while so much of our wealth is locked up in investment properties.

No country reaches its potential through property speculation.

And no modern, successful economy grows that way.

In my first Budget as Finance Minister, I will introduce a simple capital gains tax on profits made from investment and commercial property.

It is part of my plan to reward productive investment that grows the economy, not just the housing market.

And because I am so determined to grow the economy, the tax will be targeted.

The family home is exempt. Farms are exempt. KiwiSaver, shares, business assets, inheritances, and personal belongings - are all exempt.

Did you hear that, Christopher Luxon?

They. Are. Exempt.

Nine out of ten New Zealanders won’t pay a cent.

But they will benefit as we shift money from speculation into productivity - into innovation, skills, and the industries that lift wages and build our future.

And as Finance Minister, I give you this commitment:

Every single dollar raised will be ring-fenced to rebuild our health system, including three free doctor's visits a year for every New Zealander.

If Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis want a fight over a plan that grows the economy for Kiwi families and protects our health system, I have three words for them:

Bring. It. On.

When National looks at the economy, all they see is the contribution of a few people, a few industries, and a few parts of the country. 

Labour sees something very different.

We see the corner dairy.

The family-owned cafe.

The local mechanic.

The market stallholder.

And the thousands of small businesses that create jobs and opportunity every day.

We see the nurse working the night shift.

The teacher preparing lessons on a Sunday.

The tradie building the homes we desperately need.

The entrepreneur taking a risk on a new idea.

The scientists, the technicians, the supermarket workers, the carers.

We know growth is built just as much in the front room as it is in the boardroom.

For decades, New Zealand has been held back by short-term thinking.

Rewarding property speculation over productive investment.

And by an economic model that hopes wealth will somehow trickle down from the top.

It hasn't. And it won't.

We can't sit back and hope for progress.

We have to make it happen.

But let's be clear: growth on its own doesn't guarantee a better life.

A strong economy is not measured by numbers on a chart, but by whether people are getting ahead.

Whether families feel secure.

Whether young people see a future for themselves here, at home.

Whether the wealth we create stays here and lifts everyone.

That is the standard we should measure ourselves against.

And that is the standard I will deliver.

I'm optimistic about New Zealand's future.

My job as Finance Minister will be to turn that optimism into opportunity.

I will make sure we invest to solve real problems: affordable healthcare, warm homes, higher productivity and a zero-carbon economy.

Not growth for its own sake, but growth that makes life better for everyone.

I will work alongside business to shape new markets, giving clarity, direction and confidence to invest for the long term.

And I will never waver in my commitment to fiscal responsibility.

This is what it means to build an economy that works for everyone.

Investing in the ideas and industries that create good jobs.

Backing New Zealand's potential in every region, every community, every family.

But I also know this: for it to work, Labour has to deliver.

And we will.

We have to prove that the choice people make at the election will make a real, positive difference in their daily lives.

We've heard the lesson of last term:

Too much, too fast, and not enough finished.

People heard the promises - and often supported the intent - but didn't always see the change in their lives.

The next Labour Government will be different.

Clearer priorities and results people can see in their everyday lives.

A Labour Government will be focussed on what matters.

Jobs. Health. Homes.

And real action on the cost of living.

We will take on the big challenges - like climate change - with solutions that benefit every family, every community, and every part of the country.

It has always been Labour governments that build for the future:

The Super Fund, KiwiSaver, KiwiBank, Working for Families, the Winter Energy Payment, our welfare and housing systems.

We have the receipts. We have the history. We have the credibility.

I have never been more sure that we can build the country we all want:

A country where hard work is rewarded.

Where everyone can see the local doctor.

Where homes are affordable and secure.

Where business can grow, and young people can thrive.

A country where success is not something for a few, but something we create together.

That is what Labour stands for.

A New Zealand that backs itself.

A New Zealand that believes in its potential - and has a government that does too.

A future made in New Zealand, by New Zealanders, for New Zealanders.

Let's go out and build it, together.