✨ Government Policy Address
3348 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 125
Migrants are valued not just for the skills they bring. They are also valued for the diversity and dynamism they bring to our society. My government remains committed to celebrating that diversity and dynamism and will resist and oppose any attempts to make migrants the scapegoats for whatever social and economic problems we face.
Honourable Members,
Increased investment in skills and talent needs to be matched with increased investment in infrastructure and innovation and building New Zealand’s global connectedness.
My government will, as a matter of priority, introduce legislation to implement major changes to land transport. The legislation will include provisions for public-private partnerships, where appropriate, to finance large projects.
Transit and Transfund will be required to take a longer-term view of land transport and to ensure that government priorities are reflected better in their funding decisions. All currently planned major projects will be reviewed to ensure they meet the government’s strategic objectives.
Legislation will be introduced to consolidate and update road management powers, remove legislative barriers to greater cooperation between road controlling authorities, and allow regional councils to fund and, under certain circumstances, both own and operate public transport infrastructure and services.
My government also recognises the importance of rail in New Zealand’s land transport infrastructure. It will implement policies to improve the long-term management of the New Zealand rail network.
Internationally, air services are of increasing importance for both trade and tourism. Air New Zealand remains central to the maintenance and expansion of these services. My government remains committed to maintaining long-term majority ownership and control of Air New Zealand. Within these constraints, any proposal from the board of Air New Zealand for changes to its present ownership profile will have to meet national interest tests and pass existing competition tests without any form of intervention by the government.
On energy infrastructure, new electricity generation capacity is needed and better gas arrangements are required for the long term. We need certainty of supply at reasonable prices, taking into account the need for energy efficiency and conservation. The government will be taking steps to ensure that appropriate industry structures, governance and rules are working to manage the electricity and gas industries effectively.
Regional and local infrastructure is also under pressure from our high number of tourists. Often local authorities are not able to raise sufficient revenue to develop and maintain the infrastructure for such large numbers of people. My government will develop policy for addressing this issue.
My government also seeks increased capital for investment. The existing investment agencies are being brought together into a single investment
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Online Sources for this page:
VUW Te Waharoa —
NZ Gazette 2002, No 125
Gazette.govt.nz —
NZ Gazette 2002, No 125
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
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Government Policy and Economic Strategy
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🏛️ Governance & Central AdministrationMigrants, Skills, Infrastructure, Innovation, Land Transport, Rail, Air Services, Energy, Tourism, Investment