Viewpoint – Growing a strong economy

There is a definite spring in the air throughout Kaipara ki Mahurangi as we emerge from the pandemic and a long wet winter. I’m looking forward to dropping into the local markets and the school fairs and agricultural days over the next few weeks. The school fairs and agricultural days are a great way for families to meet up and share in the community fun that makes living in Kaipara ki Mahurangi a pleasure.

I’m enjoying being out and about and dropping into businesses, and meeting with constituents in different communities – that sometimes takes me all over NZ, from visiting the Dutch with the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and attending the diplomatic reception of the Indonesian Independence Day to local events such as the Rotary Warkworth meeting I was invited to speak at.

On the political front, the Prime Minister recently returned from a trip to the United States where she met with a number of world leaders. From their discussions, it was clear that while things have been tough everywhere, New Zealand continues to do better than most. So I wanted to share a bit of an update on the steps that we’re taking to support Kiwis through this period, and to report back on some of the economic indicators that you may have missed. These give real reason to feel optimistic about the future, and the opportunities before us.

Our economy is 5% larger than before the pandemic, unemployment is at a near record low, exports are up and incomes are growing at the highest rates since records began. We have more people in work, with higher wages, making both New Zealanders and the New Zealand economy stronger.

Through our strong economic management, we’ve achieved all of these positive results with a similar debt level to what the previous National Government took on as a percentage of GDP during the Global Financial Crisis – despite the COVID economic crisis being even more severe. Local businesses have every reason to be positive. The latest tourism numbers show that more than 100,000 tourists visited New Zealand in July alone. This demand will continue to ramp up as we look forward to a summer of big events, kicking off with the Rugby World Cup in Auckland, and will be seen here, in Rodney, with tourists taking the time to experience our great wines and local restaurants along with enjoying the Mahurangi River and our fascinating local history. We’ll also see more holidaymakers and skilled migrants fill workforce gaps.

While this is really good news for the economy overall, I know things still feel tough for many New Zealanders in the face of global pressures. That’s why we’ve rolled out a number of measures to help ease this pressure, including with our Cost of Living Payment, action on supermarkets, fuel tax cut and more.

Targeting cost of living support towards those New Zealanders who need it most is not only the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. There’s simply no room for unaffordable and untargeted tax cuts to those who need them the least. As we’ve seen overseas, tax cuts with no plan for how to pay for them are economically reckless.