Viewpoint – Back to business

There’s a lot to love about our area, from our stunning beaches to our friendly communities; it’s a place I feel lucky to call home. And it’s great to see more people supported into work, our young people set up for bright futures with free apprenticeships and trades training, and more people move into jobs through successful initiatives like Flexi-wage, Mana in Mahi and the Apprenticeship Boost programme.

We’re also supporting businesses, including here in Kaipara ki Mahurangi, to access the skilled workers they need. It was great to have the Minister for Women, Jan Tinetti, visit earlier this month. She was especially pleased to see Rodney businesses supporting young women into apprenticeships as builders, electricians, painters and spray-painters. In between visiting eight schools in the area in her role as Associate Minister of Education, we also met with employers and apprentices of Warkworth Construction, Wynne Electrical, Davco Electrical, Luke Fry Electrical and WRNZ in Stillwater, to talk about the great things happening in the trades.

The latest figures show that unemployment has remained at a near record low (3.3%) against expectations when Covid hit, that it could rise as high as 10%. Our economic approach is supporting families and businesses, resulting in more people in work and rising wages.

That’s not to say times aren’t tough for many Kiwis. There is no easy fix for the cost of living, but we’ve taken a range of actions to ease the pressure, from rolling out our cost of living package and winter energy payment, to the boost of superannuation, extension to the fuel tax cut and reduced road user charges, as well as half price public transport until next January and permanent half price public transport for community service card holders. And we are continuing the work to fix our supermarket sector to make sure New Zealanders are paying a fair price at the checkout.

Since the day we came into Government, we’ve worked hard to lift wages and reduce cost pressures on Kiwis, through measures like cheaper doctor’s visits, free lunches in schools and the family tax credit.

Our economy is set to recover faster from the pandemic than it did from the Global Financial Crisis. As well as near record low unemployment, wages are outstripping inflation and we have record exports. It’s also important to note that our debt remains low, and is set to peak at about half of Australia’s, around one-third of the UK and around one-fifth of the US, so we are keeping a lid on debt while we deal with the here and now.

It’s been a difficult few years for everyone. Moving on safely from the traffic light system and welcoming back the world is going to help to drive greater economic activity. That has taken a team effort, so thank you for your hard work and sacrifices over the past few years. These efforts have made a real difference.