✨ Government Policy Announcements
12 DECEMBER 2008 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 193 5113
In this area, as in all others, my Government intends that its actions reflect the belief that New Zealand is a country built on a sense of fairness and a sense of our obligations to each other.
It is confident that as the steps I have just outlined are taken, the country will be able to push through this downturn and on to a longer-term pathway to stronger growth.
In the short-term, my Government is committed to shoring-up the liquidity of the financial system. It will continue to support the retail deposit and wholesale banking government guarantees currently backing our financial sector. Its intention is to continue those guarantees for as long as – but no longer than – they are needed to ensure the effective operation of our banking system.
The new Government notes that of the $14 billion of assets in the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, less than 25% is currently invested in New Zealand.
It believes this Fund should be used to invest in our country’s future growth and to underwrite our future prosperity. My Government will therefore set a target of at least 40% of the Super Fund to be invested in New Zealand.
In addition, it will take steps to ensure that saving is a more affordable choice for more New Zealanders by reducing the minimum employee contributions to KiwiSaver to 2% of an employee’s gross salary.
My Government also wishes to address the issue of New Zealand’s low productivity growth and intends to lead by example, by carefully examining public spending.
It will require that public agencies focus taxpayers’ money on the frontline services they have a right to expect and that public spending is scrutinised to ensure it is deployed to good effect.
My Government is concerned that for the past several years the number of people employed in the public service has grown at a rate that has not been matched by a commensurate increase in the level of services provided to the public.
Its focus therefore will be on improving services to the public and not on increasing the number of public servants engaged in government administration. To that end, it will halt the growth in government bureaucracy and ensure that resources are focused on the provision of frontline services.
My Government recognises that the public accounts leave little room for new spending over the next few years. It will work hard to make the most out of every dollar, so as to deliver high-quality public services and to protect the vulnerable from the sharp edge of a recession.
Furthermore, in order to help businesses and employers through this downturn and on to a stronger growth pathway, it will focus on reducing the regulatory and compliance demands that get in the way of productivity growth.
In addition to the reforms to the Resource Management Act I outlined earlier, my Government will undertake a regulatory review programme.
This review will identify and remove inefficient and superfluous regulation and it will ensure that regulations are used sparingly and effectively.
Next Page →
NZ Gazette 2008, No 193
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🏛️
Speech from the Throne at the State Opening of Parliament
(continued from previous page)
🏛️ Governance & Central AdministrationGovernor-General, Parliament, State Opening, Economic Growth, Government Formation