By Lillian Hanly RNZ
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By Lillian Hanly of RNZ
The government has ticked off most of its action plan for the last quarter, as it turns to the next with a continued focus on the cost of living.
In its report card for the last three months, two items were listed as 鈥榠n progress鈥:
Take Cabinet decisions on capital markets settings to remove barriers to listing, reduce costs to firms and enable greater investment in private assets from KiwiSaver providers.
Publish the first Government AI strategy to help drive adoption of AI to boost productivity and grow the economy.
The AI strategy is expected to be released in the coming weeks, and further decisions on capital market settings were expected in the next quarter. One change that has been made was to reduce the listing costs on firms by making the publication of their prospective financial information voluntary.
Turning to the next quarter, a statement from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said continuing to address cost of living pressures over the coming months was key. Luxon said the government was taking action on the cost of food, housing, banking and energy to 鈥渄rive a better bargain鈥 for New Zealand families.
鈥淲hile it鈥檚 still tough out there for too many Kiwis, our Government鈥檚 focus on unlocking economic growth is starting to show some promise with key indicators up across the board.鈥
He said it wasn鈥檛 enough for businesses to grow and invest.
鈥淣ew Zealanders deserve an economy that works for them, with more competition and lower prices,鈥 Luxon said.
The next quarter will see the repeal of the oil and gas exploration ban, next steps to improve supermarket competition and further changes to the RMA.
Luxon said repealing the ban would 鈥渦nleash the energy鈥 the country needed to 鈥渒eep the lights on and prevent power prices from skyrocketing in the years to come鈥.
鈥淭he cost of housing is also a priority, with significant improvements to the RMA enabling more construction in our biggest cities expected to become law,鈥 he said.
The government will also look to publish the first standards allowing the use of overseas building products in the country. The Public Works (Critical Infrastructure) Amendment Bill will be passed, which will streamline the process to acquire land for big projects.
Legislation will be introduced to 鈥渟trengthen governance and planning arrangements鈥 at Auckland Transport.
Under law and order, the government will look to progress legislation that makes stalking an illegal offence, and introduce legislation that deters 鈥渁nti-social road use.鈥
Changes to the electoral system are on the way, including introducing a ban on prisoner voting, and the government will begin delivering rehabilitation and reintegration services to remand prisoners.
Cabinet will consider decisions on legislation to 鈥渁ffirm police鈥檚 authority to collect, use and retain information about individuals in public places for lawful policing purposes鈥.
Other actions under better public services include starting to deliver additional elective procedures, and opening an expression of interest for 120 nurse practitioner training places.
The government will also implement its funding increase for GP clinics and the first prototypes for the expansion of urgent care for rural and remote areas.
Legislation that will give effect to the ECE Regulation Sector Review will be introduced and key policy decisions taken to tighten the eligibility for income support for 18/19 year olds.