Week That Was: Bouncing back stronger and faster
With no active COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, it's clear our plan to eliminate the virus is working. The opportunity now is to keep building on that success: getting people back into work, investing in businesses and industries, and setting New Zealand up to bounce back stronger, faster, and better than ever.
This week, we hit 100 days until the election, when people across New Zealand get to decide who they want to see leading our country through the next three years.
To mark the moment, we compiled a list of 100 achievements we've delivered in our first term - it's by no means the entire list!
Still making up your mind who you'll be casting your vote for on September 19th? Check out 100 reasons why you should vote Labour here.
Investing in tourism
The Prime Minister joined the Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis in Kaikōura this week, where they announced COVID recovery support for the region’s biggest tourist drawcard - Whale Watch.
It's the latest iconic tourism business to receive funding from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, announced in Budget 2020. We're providing targeted funding for a number of key tourist attractions to help the industry get going again and encourage growth in the local economy.
Getting people into conservation jobs
In Budget 2020, we announced a $1.1 billion investment to create almost 11,000 new conservation jobs in our regions. These jobs will work to restore and protect our environment by upgrading walking tracks, restoring wetlands, eradicating pests, and more.
Already, only four weeks after we made the announcement, hundreds of people are employed in these conservation jobs. It's a great example of how we're getting people into jobs and boosting our regions in the wake of COVID-19, while being responsible guardians of our environment.
Fixing our health system
Recent months have shown us, once again, how important a robust and world-class health system is for the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. This week, we announced we’re investing in new and improved facilities for Manukau Health Park, to ensure South Aucklanders can get the best possible care when and where they need it most.
This investment is part of our ongoing commitment to tackle New Zealand’s long-term challenges, and improve our health facilities up and down the country. Not only will this make a real difference to patients and medical staff, but it will provide more local jobs to help get our economy moving again.
As we begin the countdown to Election Day, we'll be bringing you the latest news and announcements - right here on our website and over on our Facebook page. Look out for the next edition in this series on Friday.