PM Jacinda Ardern admits there have been some 'speed-wobbles' in her 'year of delivery'

Speaking to the Herald in her 9th floor Beehive office, PM Jacinda Ardern said her Government will still have a strong focus on housing heading into next year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is proud of the year that's been, although she admits there have been some "speed-wobbles" in her Government's "year of delivery".

And she remains optimistic about the year ahead but says the Government still has a lot of work to do before the 2020 election.

Speaking to the Herald in her ninth floor Beehive office in Wellington, Ardern said her Government will still have a strong focus on housing heading into next year.

"So long as there are people who do not have a warm, dry home it will not be enough and we will keep going," she said.

"We [the Government] need to be in the housing space".

Housing was one of Labour's key election pillars in 2017, with its KiwiBuild policy at the heart of that approach.

Ardern was confident in the policy when first elected – "we will build 100,000 KiwiBuild homes in 10 years" she promised multiple times.

"Would I have liked KiwiBuild to be faster? Absolutely," PM Jacinda Ardern said. Photo / Lewis Gardner

It's a different story today.

"Would I have liked KiwiBuild to be faster? Absolutely."

But she pointed out that the Government had made a "huge" amount of progress in other housing-related areas.

"I don't think we should forget the foreign buyer ban and the fact that we have had an increase in first-home buyers now in the market in Auckland."

She also talked up the Government's moves in the rental market.

"We campaigned on housing because we had a crisis and we are doing a huge amount of work to turn that around – I am proud of that."

A number of times during the interview, she is interrupted by the sound of a gust of wind whistling past her thick windows, echoing through her office.

Ardern said the constant sound of the whistling wind doesn't bother her anymore.

In fact, in a conversation with her predecessor, John Key, soon after she was elected, he asked her if she had gotten used to the sound of the wind in the office.

Looking ahead

Earlier this year, Ardern branded 2019 the "year of delivery" – so what will 2020 be?

"Election year," she said.

"I'll be seeking that extra three years to keep going."

But she said there is still a fair bit of time between now and the election – likely to be in September or October – and much to do.

She freely admits this – "we are still the Government and have [a number of] months where we will need to keep governing".

That, she said, will involve the roll-out of some of the plans the Government has already introduced.

"That's housing, mental health reforms and education reforms.

"We need to keep on with that programme; we have made huge progress, but there is a lot more to do."

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, centrepieces of 2020 for her Government will undoubtedly be the Budget.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Marty Melville

In 2018, her Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the Government's first-term budgets would be a transformational "trilogy".

"This is the foundational Budget," he said of Budget 2018 at the time.

"2019 ... will be what we call the wellbeing Budget, and the Budget in 2020 will be what takes us through that transformational process around the economy as well."

Ardern remains committed to this, but would give little away about what to expect.

She did, however, make a reference to New Zealand's infrastructure deficit and the need for investment.

"We do have an infrastructure deficit in New Zealand; we have incredibly low interest rates for borrowing and low debt – so now is the time for us to continue rebuilding."