Setting goals for a healthier New Zealand

On Wednesday, Health Minister Pete Hodgson announced a set of major health targets for the New Zealand health system, aimed at achieving the best possible health outcomes for all New Zealanders. The Labour-led government is setting nationwide health targets for the first time in ten key areas: immunisation, oral health, elective services, cancer waiting times, avoidable admissions, diabetes, mental health, healthier lifestyles, smoking and efficiency.

"The Labour-led government has made an investment in health that is almost without precedent, repairing the infrastructure of a system severely damaged throughout the 1990s,” Pete Hodgson said.

"For New Zealanders, that has meant the price of seeing the doctor has been cut to around half what it was under National while prescription charges are now $3, not $15. Hospitals have rebuilt from Kataia to Invercargill, 4000 extra nurses and 1200 more doctors are now working in our health system. Labour has delivered better pay for clinicians, higher rates of screening for breast cancer and diabetes, lifted immunisation rates and achieved a drastic cut in the number of New Zealanders still smoking.

"Those successes would have been unimaginable seven and a half years ago but we are not stopping there. These targets are ambitious, but we shouldn't settle for less.” Pete Hodgson says the targets are areas of priority where improvements will deliver the best health outcomes possible for New Zealand families.

"The Ministry of Health included the targets in their Statement of Intent this year and have been building support for them across the health sector. The Ministry will now work in partnership with District Health Boards, service providers and communities to achieve them."

For more, visit http://www.moh.govt.nz/newsandissues

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Labour force survey results best ever recorded

With labour force participation and employment both at all time highs and the unemployment rate at an equal low of 3.6 percent, this quarter's Household Labour Force Survey results are the best ever recorded, Acting Social Development and Employment Minister Steve Maharey said Thursday.
 
"In December 1999 when Labour took office the participation rate was 65.4 percent. Now participation is at its highest rate since the survey began two decades ago with labour force participation at 68.8 percent," said Mr Maharey.

"The Labour-led government's commitment to upskilling the New Zealand workforce, lifting the quality of employment, and providing more choices for living, caring and working is paying dividends. These fantastic results highlight this commitment."
 
The unemployment rate in New Zealand also dropped this quarter from 3.7 percent to 3.6 percent – the equal lowest unemployment rate ever recorded.  The survey also showed Maori unemployment was at an all time low at 7.6 percent in the year to March.

"For three years now unemployment in New Zealand has been under four percent. We are the only country in the OECD to achieve such a low unemployment rate over such an extensive period," said Mr Maharey.

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Early signs positive for KiwiSaver

Early take-up rates for the landmark, work-based saving scheme, KiwiSaver, are very encouraging, Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.  As of Wednesday – just five weeks after the KiwiSaver launch – the total number of enrolments received by Inland Revenue had reached nearly 92,000, with just over 3,000 opt-out forms received to date.

“These are early, but very encouraging signs for a scheme which aims to make it much easier for many New Zealanders to build a nest egg for retirement,” the Ministers said.  “The initial numbers compare very favourably with Treasury forecasts of take-up,” said Dr Cullen. “The mid-point estimate was that around 50 per cent of the workforce would be active members of KiwiSaver after 10 years.
 
“Treasury forecasts that 345,000 people would have enrolled in KiwiSaver by the end of the first year. That’s just under 30,000 a month. This data suggests that take-up to date is well ahead of that number. Active choice enrolments alone – these are the people who have actively decided to opt into KiwiSaver, rather than being enrolled automatically – are already at the level Treasury had forecast for total enrolments.”

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Government responds to manufacturing strategy

The importance of the manufacturing industry to New Zealand’s economy is to be recognised with the establishment of a high level private-public sector advisory group to the government, Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard announced Tuesday.
 
"The Manufacturing Advisory Group (MAG) will be co-chaired by Business New Zealand Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly and Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union National Secretary Andrew Little, and will include key manufacturing leaders," Trevor Mallard announced to manufacturers at a government function at parliament.
 
"Manufacturing has always been, and always will be, a crucial part of New Zealand’s economy and that is why the Labour-led government is committed to working with the sector to further transform it – as part of our work in growing New Zealand into a high wage, high value, innovative and export-led economy."

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Cosgrove explores radical new approach to NZ building design

A world-first proposal to require assessment of the overall carbon cost of producing, maintaining and using new buildings is the centrepiece of a new discussion document released Sunday by Building and Construction Minister Clayton Cosgrove.
 
The Minister has invited feedback on the discussion document – the second in the Building Code Review - which includes a proposal to require the ‘embodied energy’ of building components to be taken into account when designing buildings. Embodied energy is the total amount of energy used to produce a final product from raw materials.
 
The new proposal raises the idea of factoring into the design of new buildings the embodied energy of the building’s components, as well as the building’s lifetime energy use, as a requirement of the New Zealand Building Code. Such an approach would hold the potential to substantially reduce the ‘whole of life’ costs of buildings and would have significant environmental benefits.

"The Labour-led government believes New Zealand should aim to be the world's first truly sustainable nation," Mr Cosgrove said.  "We know the way we design our buildings and homes will be central to that effort."

The discussion document, along with the public submissions received, will form the basis of a report to the Minister for Building and Construction by 30 November 2007.  Following further consultation with the public and the building sector, the new Code could be in place by the middle of 2009.