Happy New Year to you all. It’s an
exciting year ahead with an election at the end of it - I thought that while there will be
much to do this year I would take a look back on the last two years of the Labour/Alliance
government. During the 1999 campaign we made promises to improve the working and living conditions of New Zealanders. It’s been a busy couple of years and we’ve done our utmost to keep our word.
On the jobs front there are now more New Zealanders in paid work today than at any time in our history - unemployment is at its lowest level since 1988. We’ve put extra resources into venture capital investment, business incubators, modern apprenticeships, research and development and partnerships with the regions.
In the health sector we said we would put people before profit. Real progress has already been made in reducing the time people have to wait for operations. We are putting almost $3 billion extra into health and disability services over the next three financial years so area health boards can work to improve the health of their communities.
We promised we would improve the lot of debt ridden students. $800 million is being invested over four years to cut the cost to students of tertiary education. We have targeted interest on student loans, frozen fees and put additional resources into helping students get summer work.
Guaranteeing super for the future was a key promise from the Labour and Alliance parties. We’ve reversed the 1999 cuts to super rates and the NZ Superannuation Fund has been established to help pay for super in the future.
A key campaign promise was to restore income related rents. Around 53,000 low-income families - ninety per cent of state tenants - are now paying income related rents. This has helped to improve the quality of life for thousands of low-income New Zealand families.
We also promised to crack down on crime. The numbers of burglaries have significantly reduced over the past two years and we have reduced the time it takes for police to respond to burglaries.
In my own Ministerial portfolios the highlights for me include, in the Commerce area, reducing compliance costs for business and improving laws dealing with the sale of motor vehicles.
In Communications the big story was the passing of the new Telecommunications Act, which is designed to give consumers a better deal. We’ve appointed a Telecommunications Commissioner who will resolve disputes in the industry and he starts in March.
On the Information Technology front we’ve been holding a series of e-commerce regional events for small and medium sized businesses and issued a progress report on our E-Commerce Strategy. A number of broadband pilot projects designed to improve internet access for mainly rural areas has been launched.
As Associate Revenue Minister I have been working on simplifying tax for small businesses and on improving the compliance and penalty system.
I believe we had a good 2001 with new housing developments, increasing real estate values and of course there should be spin-offs for our area with the greater influx of people being brought into Trentham Army camp.
As you see it’s been a busy couple of years, and the year ahead looks busier. I look forward to working for you this year.
If you would like to discuss these or any other matters further, please phone me at my Taita electorate office on 567-0156 or my Upper Hutt electorate office on 528-5715. I am also available at my Parliament Office on 470 6565. If you prefer, you can write to me C/- Parliament Buildings, Wellington (no stamp required).