Source: Radio New Zealand
The prime minister says there will be no “extravagant” election promises from National, and confirms his government will continue to run a tight budget, in his first speech of the election year.
In a State of the Nation address at Auckland’s new International Convention Centre, Christopher Luxon launched a defence of his government’s progress and reform programme, and promised there would be no deviation from its plan should it win a second term.
National has been running on a slogan of ‘fixing the basics, building the future,’ but much of the speech was about the first part.
“For two years, National has been fixing the basics. Now heading into the election this year, National will campaign on a bold plan to build the future and leave a legacy of prosperity and opportunity for future generations,” he said.
Despite rising unemployment, a deficit higher than originally forecast, and a return to surplus pushed out to 2029-30, Luxon pointed to falling inflation and interest rates, as well as increased business confidence, as signs of the government’s progress.
“I have to tell you, I feel more confident than ever that the recovery has now arrived and Kiwis can look forward to a year which is brighter than the last few,” Luxon said.
Luxon used his State of the Nation speech last year to proclaim 2025 would be the year the country would “go for growth”.
At this year’s event hosted by the Auckland Business Chamber, Luxon told his audience he understood their frustration the recovery had taken so long to get traction.
“I remain of the view that we got the balance right,” he said.
“There were calls at the time for a big fiscal stimulus and to open the immigration gates and pump up house prices. As I spoke about last year, we can’t risk repeating the sugar-rush economics of the past.”
Luxon said Finance Minister Nicola Willis had delivered savings of around $11 billion a year, and promised this year’s Budget would be more of the same.
“New Zealand simply has to get its finances in order if it is to achieve a long-term improvement in its economic prospects. That’s why there will be more savings in this year’s Budget and no room for extravagant election promises,” he said.
“Let’s be straight up with each other. Any party that wants to ramp up spending is being economically irresponsible. Because the only way to spend more money is to borrow it or to raise taxes.”
He said New Zealand “can’t afford to be complacent” amidst global volatility.
Pointing to a rupturing of the rules-based system, and a shift from economic to security, Luxon said there was a “rising risk” of a “dangerous miscalculation” in the Indo-Pacific, Luxon said the government’s investment in defence was justified, as was its pursuit of Free Trade deals.
“We have what the world wants, we’re a reliable partner, we have the values to which most of the world aspire, and we’re an increasingly confident nation with ambition. That’s ultimately good for our economy and our country’s future,” he said.
“But a more volatile and uncertain world underscores the importance of controlling what we can. The more we are building our economy at home and developing and diversifying those relationships abroad, the stronger New Zealand gets.”
Luxon also trumpeted the Coalition’s progress on education, but signalled the scrapping of NCEA would take longer to implement than originally thought.
Public consultation ended in September, and Cabinet was supposed to consider a final set of proposals in November.
But Luxon indicated there would be a delay.
“While Erica [Stanford] is working around the clock to make these changes a reality, they won’t be bedded in for some time. The first cohort to sit the new qualifications are only starting high school in the coming weeks. These are big changes that are critical to our plan to build the future,” he said.
Law and order is the only category in the top five of the Ipsos Issues Monitor that the public believes National can handle better than Labour.
The move from annual to quarterly crime data releases has led to accusations of inaccuracies.
But Luxon said policies like the return of Three Strikes and the gang patch ban had led to “exceptional” results.
As it was a National Party event, Luxon did not mention his coalition partners ACT or New Zealand First.
But, in speaking about the Resource Management Act reforms, Luxon said he wanted National ministers in charge.
RMA reform minister Chris Bishop has been assisted by ACT parliamentary under-secretary Simon Court in drafting the reforms, while ministers like Andrew Hoggard and Shane Jones also have ministerial responsibility for certain aspects of the legislation.
“I’ll be blunt. I want, and you should want, National ministers writing those rules, so we have a resource management regime which allows New Zealanders to build the future,” Luxon said.
“And the only way to build that future is with a National government.”
Luxon also did not address any of the opposition parties by name. Labour leader Chris Hipkins is expected to speak in response to the speech later on Monday afternoon.
There were also no policy announcements during the speech, though Luxon repeated National’s pledge to raise the default KiwiSaver contribution rate if re-elected.
It is understood Cabinet has settled on a position regarding homeless ‘move-on’ orders in Auckland, but Luxon did not reveal more during his speech. Clarification around a potential weakening of housing intensification laws was also not mentioned.
Later this week, National MPs will gather in Christchurch for their first caucus meeting of the year, where it is expected Luxon will announce the date of the election.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand