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Finance Minister Bill English and Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce have asked the Productivity Commission to review new and emerging models of tertiary education.

“The tertiary education sector has adapted to significant change over the past 20 years and is continuing to change all the time,” says Mr English.

The Government has asked the Productivity Commission to review urban planning rules and processes, and identify the most appropriate system for land use allocation, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“Urban planning in New Zealand not only underpins housing affordability but also the productivity of the wider economy,” Mr English says.

“Many parts of the regime are out-dated and unwieldy, having been developed over the years in a piecemeal fashion. International best practice has moved on and so must New Zealand.”

Finance Minister Bill English will travel to Sydney tomorrow to meet with new Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison.

“The New Zealand and Australian economies have many similarities – our proximity to growth in Asia, our strength in commodity exports, and most recently our increased partnership through the TPP trade agreement,” Mr English says.

“Australia is our largest trading partner. When Australia does well, we do well – so it is important to understand the prospects for the Australian economy and the views of its policy makers.”

Finance Minister Bill English and Statistics Minister Craig Foss today named the working group responsible for leading the new Data Futures Partnership.

“The Data Futures Partnership is an exciting opportunity to potentially deliver economic and social value for New Zealand by solving issues that limit trusted data-use and innovation,” Mr English says.

“I’m confident this diverse group of people has the knowledge and experience necessary to understand the issues and look for innovative solutions.”

Thank you for inviting me today.

It’s a pleasure to speak to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle again.

Yesterday I announced that the Government had achieved one of its key fiscal targets, posting a surplus of $414 million in 2014/15.

That was the culmination of years of focus on a target that has brought discipline to spending.

But it is far from the end of the road for our programme of responsible fiscal management.

Slowing growth in the global economy highlights the need for ongoing fiscal restraint, Finance Minister Bill English said in a speech to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle in Wellington today.

“Reaching surplus was a significant milestone, and one the public service can be proud of. But the job is far from done – we now need to focus on getting debt down,” Mr English says.

The Government has reported an operating surplus in the fiscal year that ended on 30 June, meeting a target set in 2011 following the Canterbury earthquakes and the international financial crisis, says Finance Minister Bill English.

The OBEGAL surplus of $414 million in the year to 30 June 2015 is equal to 0.2 per cent of GDP and the Government’s operating balance inclusive of gains and losses was a surplus of $5.8 billion or equal to 2.4 percent of GDP.

The OECD last night released its final package of actions to address base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The Minister of Finance Bill English, and Minister of Revenue, Todd McClay say that the plan, representing two years of intensive work by the OECD and G20 nations will be a significant step forward in the fight against BEPS.

“BEPS behaviours can result in multinationals paying little or no tax anywhere in the world, so this announcement is a big step forward and the culmination of over two years’ work by the international community” Mr English says.

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.

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.

An overseas company’s application to purchase Lochinver Station has been declined because the benefits to New Zealand are not substantial and identifiable, Ministers Paula Bennett and Louise Upston say.

Pure 100 Farm Ltd, a subsidiary of China-based Shanghai Pengxin, applied to the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) last year to buy the 13,800 ha farm near Taupo for $88 million.

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.

Associate Finance Minister Paula Bennett leaves today to visit Indonesia and the Philippines for a range of meetings promoting strong regional ties in Asia and the Pacific.

In Indonesia, the Minister will be guest of honour at the NZ-ASEAN 40th Anniversary Awards event where she will present awards to seven Indonesians who have significantly contributed to deepening New Zealand’s relationship with Indonesia and the ASEAN region. 

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.”

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:

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.

Acting Minister of Finance Steven Joyce has congratulated Labour Party Leader Andrew Little on finally announcing his first “new” policy after eight months in the job, although unfortunately for Labour it’s a cut and paste of a previous Government announcement.

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.