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Minister of Finance Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced that six banks have been awarded contracts for the supply of All-of-Government (AOG) banking services, with Westpac to provide the Crown Transactional Banking services.

“It has been more than 25 years since government banking services have been put out to tender,” Mr English says. “Over this time there has been considerable evolution in the banking and financial services sector.

Finance Minister Bill English leaves for Mexico City tomorrow before carrying on to Lima ahead of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group’s annual meetings in his capacity as a Governor of both institutions. 

The annual meetings bring together finance ministers, central bankers, private sector executives, civil society and academics to assess global economic and financial issues.

Thank you very much for the welcome.

I want to talk about the way that we approach economic policy in one area in particular – the housing market.

It’s certainly been topical lately.

The Government takes the approach that the best thing we can do for the economy is work to improve its resilience – its capacity to adapt.

That’s important because in New Zealand we have had times when our economy has not been resilient, when price signals have not been clear until it is too late – at which time they become extraordinarily clear.

Treasury and the Ministry of Social Development are looking to identify further opportunities for the supply or transfer of social housing, Ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett say.

“Under the Social Housing Reform Programme the Government has committed to subsidise an additional 3,000 social housing tenancies nationally, by the end of 2018,” Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

New Zealanders will have a fifth choice in the first postal referendum to rank potential alternative flag designs, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English says.

“Parliament has voted by an overwhelming majority to have an additional, fifth option added to the first postal referendum ballot paper with the passing of the New Zealand Flag Referendums Amendment Bill.

Good afternoon, and thank you for having me here today.

It is a pleasure to launch this Treasury Guest Lecture Series focused on social investment.

As some of you may know, I actually started my public sector career at Treasury as a graduate in 1987.

It’s good to see so many people from other government agencies, tertiary institutions, NGOs and the private sector in the room.

I’m here today to talk about social services, particularly for the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

The Productivity Commission’s latest report on social services in New Zealand will be a valued input into the Government’s ongoing programme of public sector reform, Finance Minister Bill English and State Services Minister Paula Bennett say.

The Commission found there are significant opportunities to improve the support given to the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

“The Government agrees with the Commission’s analysis of the weakness in our current social delivery systems,” Mr English says.

The Government has today signed a Terms of Reference with Auckland Council, setting out how central and local government will work together to agree on an approach to develop the city’s transport system.

“Over 700,000 additional people are expected to live in Auckland by 2045,” Mr English says.

“Long-term solutions for Auckland’s transport system are central to ensuring it remains a great place to live and do business, and it is also important for the economy as a whole.”

A milestone in the first phase of the long-term plans of the Tāmaki Redevelopment Company (TRC) was reached today with Housing New Zealand Minister Bill English and Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith opening the first completed homes as part of the Fenchurch neighbourhood regeneration project at Glen Innes, Auckland.

Housing New Zealand Minister Bill English has announced the appointment of Adrienne Young-Cooper as the Chair of Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC).

“Mrs Young-Cooper has been Deputy Chair of the HNZC Board since 2010. She brings extensive property and infrastructure investment knowledge and significant governance leadership experience to the role,” Mr English said.

Mrs Young-Cooper is currently the Chair of Hobsonville Land Company and sits on the board of the New Zealand Transport Agency. 

Non-dairy export industries can expect a significant boost in returns in the wake of the fall in the value of the New Zealand dollar over the past year, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“New Zealand has notched up eleven consecutive quarters of employment growth, with 69,000 more jobs created in the past year of which over 24,500 were in manufacturing,” Mr English said at the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association conference in Christchurch.

Thank you for coming along today.

It’s a pleasure to be here in Christchurch, for the launch of the Thirty Year New Zealand Infrastructure Plan.

Meeting New Zealand’s infrastructure challenges over the next 30 years will require coordination across central government, local government and the private sector.

So I would like to recognise our partners for the progress we’ve made together, their engagement in developing this Plan, and their commitment to meet New Zealand’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years.

The Thirty Year New Zealand Infrastructure Plan 2015 sets out New Zealand’s response to the infrastructure challenges we will face over the next three decades, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“Infrastructure supports people’s daily lives, even if they don’t think about it all that often – unless something goes wrong,” Mr English says.

“We have a good national infrastructure base, bolstered by investment in recent years. But over the next 30 years we face some big challenges:

New Zealanders will have their say in choosing the New Zealand flag after legislation enabling two postal referendums was endorsed by Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English says.

“The passing of the New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill, with the support of four Parliamentary parties, will secure New Zealanders their first opportunity ever to vote on the flag that best represents them and our country,” Mr English said.

Placing Solid Energy into temporary voluntary administration gives the best chance to secure an ongoing future for the different parts of the business, Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay say.

New Zealand will gain significant economic and social benefits from the formation of the New Zealand Data Futures Partnership, Finance Minister Bill English and Statistics Minister Craig Foss say.

The Partnership — an independent group made up of members from the private, NGO, academic and public sectors — will champion the safe collection, use and sharing of government and business data.

“The volume of data held by the public and private sectors is growing exponentially,” Mr English says.

The number of KiwiSaver enrolments continues to rise in the over-18 year old target population, with an additional 11,656 members in the month of June, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

“Removing the taxpayer-funded kick-start incentive in Budget 2015 was not expected to affect the number of working-age people joining a KiwiSaver scheme,” Mr English says.

Finance Minister Bill English is undertaking a long-planned visit to China this week, focusing on the economic developments taking place in China’s inland regions and what this means for New Zealand. 

This development is supported by the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, which seeks to create a ‘new silk road’ to improve trade links with Asia, Europe and the Pacific.

Housing New Zealand Minister Bill English says the Government has appreciated the sound leadership and commitment of outgoing Housing New Zealand Corporation chair, Allan Freeth.

Dr Freeth is departing his role at HNZC at the end of the month to become Chief Executive of the Environmental Protection Authority.

The latest Crown accounts reinforce the benefits of the Government’s careful stewardship of its finances, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Treasury reports that the Government recorded an OBEGAL surplus of $1.2 billion in the first eleven months of the financial year that ended last week. That compares with a $1.1 billion deficit in the corresponding period last year.

The 11-month result is nearly $1 billion better than forecast in the Budget.

More young people are achieving higher qualifications, welfare dependency continues to fall and Kiwis are doing more of their government transactions digitally, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and State Services Minister Paula Bennett say.

The Government today published the latest update of progress against the ten challenging targets set three years ago by the Prime Minister.

New Zealand has formally become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at a signing ceremony in Beijing today, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Bank is a China-led initiative which is being established to address a gap in new infrastructure across Asia.

“New Zealand actively participated early in the negotiations. Our aim was to push for a well-run, transparent and broad-based multilateral institution. The 50 countries who signed today is testament to the final result,” Mr English says.

Thank you for inviting me tonight.

It’s a pleasure to be here in Australia.

What happens over here, and what people are thinking, affects New Zealand profoundly.

That’s why I try to visit here regularly and talk to as many people as I can.

I want to acknowledge the warm relationship shared between our respective Governments – and the constructive engagements we have with Prime Minister Abbott and Joe Hockey in particular.

New Zealand recorded another quarter of continued economic growth, confirming that the Government’s sensible economic programme is taking New Zealand in the right direction, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“A reduction in dairy production contributed to quarterly growth of 0.2 per cent coming in at the lower end of market expectations, but still resulted in annual growth of 2.6 per cent,” he said. “A strong economy provides Kiwi families with new jobs, higher incomes and opportunities to get ahead.