Christopher Luxon
Prime Minister
Minister, Ministerial Services
Minister, National Security and Intelligence
Before we get into it, I just want to acknowledge what was an absolutely phenomenal sporting weekend for New Zealand. It was an absolute privilege to see so many of our national teams and athletes succeeding at the highest level of sport, and I hope that they know that there were 5 million Kiwis, irrespective of what sport they were following, feeling incredibly proud of them. I thought what the White Ferns did, winning the first New Zealand T20 World Cup in Dubai, was really special, and of course to see a Black Caps win in India after 36 years is pretty special too. Team New Zealand romping home in Barcelona to make the three-peat for the America’s Cup—absolutely fantastic, Jenna—the Silver Ferns I think putting in a great performance to beat the Diamonds in the first Constellation Cup test, and lastly our women’s canoe polo team doing well, beating Italy in the finals of the Canoe Polo World Cup in China. So a great weekend to remember.
But look, we are fast approaching the end of the year and many New Zealanders will be starting to plan for Christmas and their summer holidays. And the last few years have certainly been incredibly tough for so many Kiwis, with high inflation and high interest rates driving up costs and eating into household budgets, but we’re now starting to see encouraging signs that we are turning a corner and that brighter days are ahead for Kiwis and their families.
In the last two weeks we’ve seen the OCR cut by 50 basis points and inflation fall to 2.2 percent—that is two rate cuts under our Government compared with 12 rate rises under Labour—and inflation within the Reserve Bank’s target range for the first time in three and a half years. Those are the numbers, but much more importantly they mean practical things for people in terms of their mortgage rates coming down and grocery shops just getting that little bit easier. This time last year, average mortgage interest rates had climbed over 7 percent. Today they’ve fallen to just below 6 percent, and for a family with a $500,000 mortgage that difference could be worth around $200 in savings on their fortnightly mortgage repayments.
Add to that the extra cash that people are seeing in their bank accounts because of our Government’s tax relief to lower middle income workers, and Family Boost payments making childcare more affordable, and for many people our economic plan will be making a real difference to their family budgets. It means that this summer, many Kiwis will have a little bit of extra money to go towards their Christmas lunch or holiday activities for their kids.
And I know it’s still very tough for many people out there, and we know that the economy is still not in great shape, but by spending responsibly, reducing red tape and restoring confidence to the business sector. We’re beating inflation and we’re creating the foundations for future growth. We’re doing what we said we would do, and that includes delivering tax relief responsibly even when our opponents and commentators cried out that it would fuel inflation. We’ve proved them wrong and shown what can be achieved when you have a plan and you start to deliver on that plan and I’m proud to lead a Government that actually delivers for this country.
Today we’re also very pleased to announce that we have started work on our first road of national significance, less than a year into Government. I was asked the other day by one of you if I had any regrets so far, and my answer was that the only regret I’ll have is that we weren’t bold enough, we weren’t fast enough to get the changes necessary to make sure we set New Zealand up for a great future for our kids and grandkids, and I mean that. Talk and vision means nothing without action and delivery. Parents can’t put their food on the table with a business case. Businesses can’t grow with bumper sticker slogans. For our economy to get moving so that every New Zealander gets a better quality of life, the Government needs not just a vision, but it needs to deliver on that vision. And delivering modern, reliable infrastructure is absolutely critical to our vision of making New Zealand an outstanding place to do business, ensuring that we can attract all the growth and investment that we need to lift incomes for all New Zealanders.
So as of today, crews are on site, starting early works on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, which will see it go from two lanes to four, making a big difference for growth and investment going forward in the region. The RONS project built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s most successful state highway corridors, and this Government is moving at great pace to build a new generation of RONS that will make it easier and safer for New Zealand to get to where they need to go, creating a more productive and resilient transport network, driving economic growth and unlocking land for thousands of new houses. I’ll now hand over to Transport Minister Simeon Brown to talk a little bit about this in more detail.