Week That Was: New classrooms for 100,000 kids
We've had another great week of progress for New Zealand! We're moving forward, taking on the long-term challenges with smart, practical solutions.
We celebrated the 1 July milestones!
We started this week by celebrating some major milestones for a number of our policies!
We gave a pay bump to people on parental leave, we celebrated the Healthy Homes Guarantee, and we officially banned all single-use plastic bags! Each one – from plastic bags, to parental leave, to healthy homes, guarantees a better life for New Zealanders now, and for future generations. Read more here.
We committed to new schools and classrooms for up to 100,000 Kiwi kids.
This week, we announced we're building new schools and classrooms for up to 100,000 Kiwi kids.
Every child deserves to go to school somewhere safe, dry, and warm – where they can learn, grow, and do their best. Despite this, many schools are run-down, damp, and over-crowded. The previous Government didn’t plan or invest for the future, and now our kids are paying the cost.
We want to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. We’re fixing schools, planning for the future and building warm, modern, fit-for-purpose classrooms.
This is just the beginning: we’re set to invest in more schools for more kids over the next year, and for ten years into the future.
We're backing marae and whānau to thrive.
Whānau are the fundamental building blocks of Māori society, and we know that if whānau thrive so will hapū, iwi, Māori and communities throughout Aotearoa.
The marae is at the very centre of Māori identity, language, traditional knowledge and whānau wellbeing. We’re backing marae to develop and strengthen connections to heritage, identity, and mātauranga.
This week, we announced our investment in the Oranga Marae programme, upgrading buildings, bolstering emergency kits and expanding work to preserve Māori culture in maraes around the country.
The initiatives will be whānau-led - develop and strengthen their connections to their heritage, identity, mātauranga, and building wider social and community wellbeing and resilience.
We’re also helping marae be better prepared for disaster responses, because marae are often places of support and shelter for people affected by emergencies and disasters - like the Whakatū Marae who opened their doors to everyone during this year’s Nelson Fires.
We're getting people the skills they need for the digital future.
Right now, we’re dealing with a digital skills shortage. 120 tech firms expect to create more than 3,200 new digitally skilled roles over the next two years. If we want to keep up, we have to do things differently.
Today, we announced a plan to back emerging industries where New Zealand has a head start – like agritech. Our plan will provide high paying jobs for Kiwis into the future, and keep our economy moving forward.
