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Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has today welcomed New Zealand’s return to 10-year adult passports.

Legislation necessary to effect this change, a change driven by public demand, was passed into law on 20 October and enables the Passports Office to start issuing 10-year adult passports to applicants from today.

“It is gratifying to announce the wait is over and New Zealanders can now apply for and receive a passport that has a more practical lifespan that reflects their travel patterns and requirements.”

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says public consultation on proposals for additional protection from the use of commercial sunbeds starts today.

“There is clear international evidence that UV tanning devices, including sunbeds, significantly increase the risk of skin cancers among users and that younger people are at higher risk,” says Dr Coleman.

“While there is an existing voluntary standard in place for the use of sunbeds, the evidence shows that it isn’t being adhered to.

Acting Foreign Minister Todd McClay today expressed New Zealand’s deep disappointment at the Japanese Government’s decision that it will return to the Southern Ocean to undertake whaling this season.

“New Zealand is strongly opposed to whaling in the Southern Ocean. We call on Japan to take heed of the 2014 International Court of Justice decision and international scientific advice concerning their whaling activities,” Mr McClay says. 

Good morning, thank you for the opportunity to talk with so many of you from your outstanding organisation.

As the words, Habitat, and, Humanity, in your name rightly proclaim, you provide a range of solutions from affordable housing and rental subsidies to budgeting advice and home repair programmes for low income families.

You understand, wherever it’s possible, the importance of keeping the dream of home ownership alive.

To wherever possible help the hardest-pressed people in our society from dependency to independency.

Prime Minister John Key has welcomed an announcement by the Queen of a new initiative to protect rainforest and native forest throughout the Commonwealth.

The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative (QCC) was announced at the Opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta today.

The initiative is a partnership between The Palace, the Royal Commonwealth Society, and a rainforest charity called Cool Earth. It will highlight the best conservation practice across the Commonwealth’s 53 members.

Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye today announced that the new National Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan and supporting guide will come into effect on 1 December 2015.

“The plan sets out the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies,” says Ms Kaye.

“The supporting guide, which incorporates the plan’s wording as well as extra detail, diagrams and operational information to help those implementing the plan, has been released today.

A report today published by the Land and Water Forum on the next steps needed to improved management of freshwater will be carefully considered by Government and help contribute to a public discussion paper to be published next year, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said today. 

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse have announced a new student visa designed to make New Zealand more competitive for retaining and attracting top international students.

The Pathway Student Visa will allow international students to undertake a pathway of up to three consecutive programmes of study with selected education providers. A pathway can be offered by a single education provider or in partnership with other selected education providers. They will be valid for a maximum of five years.

New Zealanders who want to understand the similarities or differences between Sandringham and Three Kings, Brooklyn and Vogeltown, or Sydhenham and Beckenham can have their say about how these areas and more are defined for statistical purposes, Statistics Minister Craig Foss says.

Statistics New Zealand is reviewing its Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas (SSGA) for the first time in over 20 years.  The review aims to improve how statistical geographies are defined and used in statistical data.

Education Minister Hekia Parata today congratulated Blenheim’s 18 primary schools, one intermediate and two high schools on becoming the first Community of Learning to agree on the achievement challenges that will drive collaboration between the schools.

“Blenheim has been the first region in the country to step up to the collaboration challenge and I want to acknowledge its leadership and the enthusiasm that this reflects,” says Ms Parata.

Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Woodhouse today announced the appointment of Fran Wilde as Chair and Geoffrey Summers as a new member of the Remuneration Authority (the Authority).

The Authority is responsible for setting the rates of pay and allowances for Members of Parliament, the Judiciary and local authority members.

Marlborough Boys’ and Girls’ Colleges are to be co-located on a new site in   a development costing up to $63 million that will equip them with state-of-the-art buildings and technology, Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.

“Co-locating the two schools on one site will enable them to share specialist facilities and strengthen the opportunities for collaboration between two key members of Blenheim’s newly-formed Community of Learning,” says Ms Parata.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay today announced that the new prescribed interest rate used to calculate fringe benefit tax on low-interest loans provided by employers to their employees will be 5.99%.

The new, lower rate will apply for the quarter beginning on 1 October 2015 and for subsequent quarters.  The previous rate was 6.22%.

The FBT rate on employer-provided low-interest loans is reviewed regularly to align it with the results of the Reserve Bank’s survey of variable first mortgage housing rates to ensure it is in line with market interest rates.

Low-income working families who are eligible for the minimum family tax credit (MFTC) will receive an increase for the 2016–17 tax year, Revenue Minister Todd McClay has announced.

The tax credit currently guarantees recipients an after-tax income of $23,036 a year ($443 a week).  This will increase to $23,764 a year ($457 a week) for the 2016–17 tax year, beginning on 1 April 2016.

The Minister Responsible for Housing New Zealand, Bill English, along with Social Housing Minister, Paula Bennett, are welcoming news that the massive programme to repair 5000 earthquake-damaged social housing stock in Christchurch has been reached ahead of schedule.

The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes damaged 95 percent of Housing New Zealand’s properties, affecting about 20,000 tenants across greater Christchurch.

Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges has welcomed the Electricity Authority’s report on the October 2014 outage at Penrose substation in Auckland.

“The Authority has conducted a thorough and detailed inquiry into the two-day outage.  This included drawing on a joint investigation by Vector, Transpower and independent experts, together with forensic analysis of the damaged cables,” Mr Bridges says.

The Government introduced to Parliament today its substantive Bill overhauling the Resource Management Act (RMA) to support business growth and housing development while also ensuring more effective environmental management, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith has announced.

“This Bill is about reducing the bureaucracy that gets in the way of creating jobs, building houses, and good environmental management. It provides for greater national consistency, more responsive planning, simplified consenting and better alignment with other laws,” Dr Smith says.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the Education Legislation Bill 2015 introduced today will amend eight statutes to improve administrative and governance arrangements for educational entities and funding organisations across the education sector.

Ms Parata says the Bill includes several improvements already signalled by the Government, as well as aligning the law with modern language and practices.

Such changes include allowing schools to change their opening hours with the agreement of their community.

Greymouth has become the twelfth New Zealand town to be fully-fibred under the Government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband programme, Communications Minister Amy Adams announced today.

“Around 4000 homes, businesses, schools and health facilities in Greymouth are now able to connect to ultra-fast internet using our world class fibre-to-the-premise network,” says Ms Adams. 

Opportunities for more investment, more jobs and better incomes for the West Coast will be the focus of a comprehensive economic study announced today by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges has announced that the Government’s latest programme of aeromagnetic surveys will begin soon in Nelson and Marlborough.

“The aim of these surveys is to build up comprehensive data on our minerals resources”, Minister Bridges says.

A brand new Trades Academy will open in Southland next year, meaning secondary school students in every region of the country will now have the opportunity to gain practical skills while studying towards NCEA credits and tertiary qualifications, Ministe

Education Minister Hon Hekia Parata has announced that Turakina Māori Girls’ College will close on 27 January 2016.

The decision follows a second round of consultation about the state-integrated Presbyterian Māori girls’ boarding school during which two submissions were received.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has made an interim decision to close Redcliffs School in Christchurch because of ongoing concern about the unstable cliff behind the school.

“I know this isn’t the decision some had hoped for,” says Ms Parata. “However, I have considered the submissions, including expert advice, and I remain concerned about the potential for future disruption to education provision if the school returns to the Main Road site.