Page:New Zealand House of Representatives Hansard 2020-11-26.pdf/9

26 Nov 2020 To add further stability to the New Zealand Government, the Labour Party has agreed to work together with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand through a Cooperation Agreement. This agreement commits the Government to working in the best interests of New Zealand and New Zealanders, working to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and working together on specific policy areas where the Green Party can continue to add expertise and where both parties can achieve mutual gains that advance the goals of the Government.

The Labour Government takes office at a time of unparalleled international crisis. It faces the greatest public health emergency since the global flu pandemic a century ago. The ensuing economic shock represents the largest global downturn since the Great Depression.

The health risk posed by the pandemic is greater now than it was when we first closed our borders. The global economic outlook continues to worsen.

New Zealand will not be immune to these deteriorating conditions.

In this year of crisis, protecting New Zealand and the lives and livelihoods of New Zealanders has been the urgent and abiding consideration. It remains so.

But that does not mark the full extent of what a government can do, and it does not mark the full extent of what this government means to do.

Crises do not form an orderly line waiting to be addressed. Three of the country's longest-standing and hardest issues demand continued and determined action: affordable housing and homelessness, child poverty, and the global climate crisis.

On each of these areas there is a need to do more and go further. Problems that are decades in the making are not easily or quickly solved. But this Government is committed to relentlessly pursuing progress.

The government means to build on the foundations laid in the first term. New Zealand must continue to tackle these issues, at gathering scale, at gathering speed, and with gathering effect.

The Labour Government will have three overarching objectives:
 * To keep New Zealanders sate from COVID-19
 * To accelerate our economic recovery
 * To lay the foundations for a better future

The scale and pace of the recovery offers an opportunity to reshape the way things are done in New Zealand, to innovate and improve our position and our economy.

New Zealand's success in fighting the virus means we are better positioned for recovery than many other countries. Already we have seen employment, export and growth numbers that are better than expected.

The programme outlined today seeks to make the most of our head start.

Keeping New Zealanders Safe from COVID-19

The first objective of the Government will be to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID. In keeping New Zealanders safe, we protect jobs, livelihoods, and strengthen our economy. A strong health response has given the New Zealand economy the best chance at coming back stronger.

The Government remains committed to a strategy of elimination, but will always remain open to evolving ways of achieving it.

No system is perfect. That is why we look to continually improve. As we learn more about the virus and other countries’ experiences, and as new technologies are developed, there will be opportunities to improve our response. Our response has never been static and we will continue to innovate and learn.

The Government will retain and enhance the multiple lines of defence to keep COVID at bay and stamp it out with minimal disruption to the economy and to our everyday lives.