The New New Zealand: Rebuilding Better is a major new series from the NZ Herald and NZME which, as we emerge from the shadow of the pandemic and start to rebuild, seeks to examine past mistakes and help lay a pathway for a fairer and more prosperous Aotearoa. Video / NZ Herald
Political parties have weighed in on the NZ Herald’s The New New Zealand campaign with their own ideas on how the country might rebuild itself from the pandemic.
On Friday the Herald launched the campaign, which aims to start a debate about how the country might rebuild back better from the pandemic.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon told the Herald "New Zealand is the best country on earth and we have endless potential – economically, socially and environmentally – and can be even better."
But he warned we were "heading in the wrong direction".
"I feel we have been playing a very small, inward and fearful game and need to rediscover our confidence, positivity, aspiration and ambition again."
Luxon said that in the "short term" he wanted to see "Government spending under control and fight inflation because that is taking households backwards and compounding the impact of the pandemic".
Luxon said education was also a priority.
"We must immediately focus on lifting school attendance and attainment, which otherwise will lead to acute social failure," Luxon said.
"Even before the pandemic, standards were slipping in many public services. We must focus on frontline services, and set meaningful targets and be accountable for them, so Kiwis aren't waiting ever longer for the emergency department or a much-needed surgery," he said.
Act leader David Seymour also highlighted the importance of Government spending and inflation.
"I want to live in the New Zealand dream of a first-world country in an island paradise. My fear is right now our government spending, our regulation and our education policies won't enable New Zealand to regain first-world status and the cost will be measured in the loss of talented people," Seymour said.
He said he wanted "every generation to have high-paying jobs that are connected to global opportunity without having to leave the country and that requires a level of education and a regulatory and infrastructure policy setting from the Government that enable those kinds of companies to grow here."
Seymour also talked about the importance of migration to building back better.
"I just challenge people who oppose immigration to tell me how New Zealand is going to build world-class companies with a labour market of 5 million when their competitors have labour markets of 300 million to 1 billion - we must be open to the world's skills and capital and ideas if we want to be a winning part of that world."
Green Party co-leader James Shaw said that in the pandemic, "Aotearoa showed the power of collective action to keep each other safe."
The Herald asked party leaders what they would like to see as New Zealand rebuilds. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He said the country should "build on this to make our communities better places to live and tackle urgent long-term problems like the climate crisis".
"That's why the Greens championed the Government's Jobs for Nature programme as a way to help short-term decisions to keep the economy afloat and also contribute to longstanding work to protect and enhance nature," Shaw said.
Shaw joined the criticism of parts of the economic response to the pandemic, saying it "unbalanced the economy and left far too many New Zealanders struggling to pay the bills, while some big corporates like banks, supermarkets, and energy companies have made huge profits over the last few years."
He reiterated the Greens' call for a "one-off tax on the excessive profits of a few big corporates could fund things like better buses and trains, warmer homes, and solar panels to reduce power bills".
"That would help ensure everyone has what they need to live with dignity, while reducing climate pollution and protecting the natural environment," Shaw said.
