Thank you for this opportunity to be part of your congress. First I would like to convey apologies from my colleague ACC and Immigrations Minister Lianne Dalziel, who was unable to be here today. I am more than happy to stand in her place to give an overview of the political landscape – which is looking decidedly more interesting after yesterday’s announcement – and in particular some of the key issues for a centre-left government.

Before looking at the landscape as it is today, it’s important to recall how it was only three years ago – an under-developed site for sore eyes littered with the wreckage of years of mismanagement.

There was no coherent plan, other than more deregulation, more privatisation. We were going nowhere fast. But we had all been promised miracle cures if only we were prepared to suffer enough.

The rich were being promised tax cuts as an incentive to work harder. The poor were told they needed lower wages and benefits to get the same result.

This was a badly divided and disillusioned nation plunged into a crisis of confidence.

The last thing that New Zealanders needed when they voted for this Government in 1999 was another destablising upheaval. New Zealanders certainly wanted to see major changes, but they were looking for steady, progressive government which would get on with the business of systematically rebuilding our country, and that’s what we have dedicated ourselves to.

I think we can be proud of what we have achieved in a little over two-and-a-half years. I’d like to take this opportunity to outline some of those achievements, because they are important features of the political landscape today. And they provide part of the answer to the question “Where to next?” because developments over the next few years will largely be a continuum of what we’ve started.

If I could put our aims into a single sentence it would be…

…to build hope, opportunity and security towards realising a vision of securing a quality of life for all that marks New Zealand as the best place in the world to be born in, to grow up in and grow old in.

It is a very achievable vision, and we have made a good start.

As a government we have delivered across the board: in the economy, in social policy, in the environment and in foreign relations.

We have brought back income-related rents for our state tenants so they are able to make ends meet and know they can afford a roof over their heads.

We have funded more treatments in the health system.

We have improved police funding.

We have abolished bulk funding of schools.

We have reformed ACC.

We have built new programmes to back business and job growth.

We have lowered the cost of tertiary education for students in real terms.

We know that our ability in the future to fund better health and education and support for the young and the old and our families will depend on getting higher value goods from this country out to the international market.

In this respect the rural sector will continue to play a very significant part.

The past two seasons have been the best in living memory for farmers. While that is due to a unique combination of good international prices, low exchange rates, and good weather, the government has won market access and facilitated industry reform so that farmers and growers are in a good position to take advantage of the opportunities.

We are creating a new partnership of understanding between producers, processors, exporters and government.

We have facilitated major reforms in the dairy, pipfruit, kiwifruit, and hops industries.

We will continue to promote producer-driven regulatory and structural reforms, including, in the wool and wine industries.

This Government has established the Rural Affairs portfolio so there is a voice in Cabinet for those living and working in rural areas. Jim Sutton, the first Minister for Rural Affairs, is supported by a strong policy group within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

We set up the Sustainable Farming Fund to promote innovation and creativity in rural communities and to help tackle obstacles to economic, social and environmental sustainability. This has been an outstanding success, and we intend to expand the resources available as long as the projects demonstrate good value to the taxpayer.

Together, with the Minister of Social Services and Employment, the Heartland Services initiative has been established to ensure essential government services return to rural areas in a coordinated way.

We committed significant diplomatic and political resources to help get a new World Trade Organisation round of trade talks underway at Doha, Qatar, last year. Improving market access for New Zealand products is a key goal for this government.

We will continue to ensure that rural people and communities have the same opportunities and capacity as their urban counterparts to adapt to change and develop their full potential.

This Government has also come a very long way in a short time in our workplace reform, including lifting the minimum wage, and introducing paid parental leave and the modern apprenticeships scheme.

There are now around three thousand young people in “modern apprenticeships” and it’s going to get even better. Last month’s Budget included an extra $41 million so we can double that figure to six thousand by December next year.

Oh, and I almost forget the repeal of the Employment Contracts Act (not!). As you’ll recall, some quarters were certain we would see the end of civilization as we know it when the Employment Relations Act was introduced.

But the ERA has defied its critics.

A recent Labour Department report on the first 18 months of the legislation backed a groundswell of opinion that the Act was working well.
Even some of our daily newspapers, not known to be great supporters of the ERA, gave prominence to its success, quoting former critics who have now changed their minds since they have seen how well it works.

This government promised a more balanced approach to employment law, and that is what we have delivered. The facts speak for themselves.

Problems on the job are being solved before they turn unnecessarily legal. And where legal intervention can’t be avoided, cases are being dealt with quickly and efficiently.

One of the Act’s big achievements is that it gives people the ability to solve problems before they escalate. Free-of-charge mediation services have received over ten thousand requests for help. More than 90 percent of those problems have been dealt with.

Over half are dealt with within three weeks, and 92 per cent within three months

The success of the service is changing attitudes to employment disputes. Mediation means problems can be sorted informally, in some cases by telephone or email, rather than in an adversarial arena.

Employers and employees have traditionally been reluctant to share their troubles outsiders, but there is growing acceptance that bringing in an impartial point of view can assist. It saves everyone time, money and heartache.

This more informal approach to resolving problems helps prevent bottlenecks, such as those that dogged the Employment Court under the ECA.

The Employment Relations Authority has also been a great success.

Half of the authority’s cases are dealt with within three months, and nine out of 10 within seven months. This has roughly halved the wait people faced in the Employment Tribunal under the ECA, when some cases took over a year to reach hearing.

This is a vast contrast to situation that festered under the previous government. But we are sorting out those inherited problems. We started with 2,680 outstanding Employment Tribunal cases from the days of the Employment Contract Act; this is now down to 314.

Behind these figures is perhaps an even more important trend - that employers, employees and unions are developing productive, constructive and healthy employment relationships.

Sure, there will always be tensions, because we don’t live in a perfect world. The teachers’ dispute has been particularly difficult. But it will get resolved. And we have the legislation in place to ensure that it will be resolved far more successfully than under the former regime.

There is still much more to do, of course.

Yesterday, Helen Clark announced our top priorities for the next term will be continued economic and job growth, more investment in health and education, securing New Zealand Superannuation, and maintaining law and order. Our policies are inclusive and build the capacity of all New Zealanders to share in the nation’s success.

We want higher sustainable growth rates. What we have is good by the standards of our peers right now, but we would like it to be consistently better.

We want lower unemployment. Where it stands at just over 5 per cent is good by OECD standards, but with more growth and skills development it can be lower.

We’ve set our course for growth through innovation, and we’re adapting all our policies to achieve that.

Education will play a huge role from early childhood through to tertiary and skills training.

To this end, thanks largely to the intense efforts of the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission, we have launched New Zealand’s first ever tertiary education strategy, a new funding system, and world class centres of research excellence.

There is so much commitment from so many people in business, in industry training organisations, in unions, and in polytechnics and other training institutions to get trade training numbers up. And we fully intend for that work to continue.

In the area of industrial relations the Government has signalled - or already has legislation under way - to improve: the Holidays Act; health & safety in employment; protection for workers when a business is sold or goes broke; equal employment opportunities; and industry training.

So what are the key issues that we face today?

First and foremost, particularly given yesterday’s announcement, is to ensure that the excellent work that we have started can continue.

The prospect of a return of a National Government cannot be entertained. When you examine their policies, they look remarkably similar to those that New Zealanders overwhelmingly rejected in 1999: Tax cuts for the wealthy, more deregulation, privatisation and divisive social policies.

In the workplace, National would reverse the gains made by the Employment Relations Act, deny employment rights for the first three months of anyone’s employment, return to “bargaining agents”, and place restrictions on freedom of association and multi-employer bargaining.

They are all moves that take power, income and conditions away from working New Zealanders. They are the sort of backward steps that would make New Zealand a less attractive place to work and live and for our young people to come home to.

Under a Labour-led government we have been steadily moving towards a higher wage-higher skill economy. National’s proposals will stop that movement in its tracks. The dumbing down of the economy is the last thing New Zealand needs.

We’re confident that a majority of New Zealanders want the leadership, the direction and the programme of this government to continue. We are seeking a clear mandate to enable that to happen.

We trust that the union movement will appreciate the gains that have been made and the potential gains yet to be made - and support us onwards into the next term.

Thank you and best wishes for the rest of your conference.