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18 December 2009
Key Notes - Happy Christmas!
Happy Christmas
It’s been a busy year. National has worked hard to protect New Zealanders from the sharpest edges of the recession and prepare for future growth, while delivering on our election promises in law and order, health, and education.
Treasury’s half-yearly fiscal update shows that we’ve come through the recession better than many people thought. And we’re seeing some strong signs of recovery. That’s great news, but the pressure on government finances is still tight.
2010 will be another big year. We’ll be working to unleash New Zealand’s potential for growth and lift wages. We’ll also stay focused on the issues that matter – making our communities safer for families, lifting achievement in our schools, and providing better healthcare for all New Zealanders.
Thanks very much for your support this year and for reading Key Notes. I hope it’s given you a sense of where we are taking New Zealand. This is the last issue for 2009. I’ll be back in your inbox in January.
And thanks for your comments. They give my staff and I a good idea of what concerns you. Please keep them coming.
I hope you and your family take some time off and relax over the holiday season. Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Tackling Greenhouse Emissions
I’m in Copenhagen this week for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Yesterday we announced that New Zealand will invest $45 million over four years in the Global Research Alliance on agriculture greenhouse gases. The Alliance brings together researchers to find solutions to emissions from farm animals and horticulture. Twenty countries so far – including the United States, Canada, and India – have joined the Alliance.
Fourteen percent of the world’s greenhouse gases and almost half of New Zealand’s emissions come from agriculture. The Alliance has huge potential to help our farmers cut emissions and help global food supply keep up with the world’s growing population.
Lifting Achievement in Schools
This week the Education Review Office released a report into reading and writing in Years 1 and 2 at primary schools. It found that almost two out of three school leaders aren’t properly monitoring how well their pupils achieve. It also found that 30 percent of teachers aren’t teaching reading and writing effectively. Children – and parents – deserve better.
The report goes some way to explaining why one-in-five young New Zealanders leave school without the basic skills they need. And it shows just how crucial our National Standards policy is. Under National Standards, primary and intermediate schools will be required from next year to assess each child’s progress in reading, writing, and maths, and report this in plain English to parents. We want to work constructively with teachers and principals to introduce National Standards. And we’re providing extra funding to roll them out and help children who are falling behind.
Improving our Highways
On Tuesday the Government gave the go ahead for Transmission Gully – a project to improve State Highway 1 north of Wellington. This is part of the Wellington Road of National Significance, which will see a four-lane expressway built in stages between Wellington Airport and Levin over the next 10 years.
Earlier this year we identified seven initial Roads of National Significance around the country. With our announcement of $11 billion in new State Highway investment over the coming decade, National wants to significantly improve our road network and help unclog New Zealand’s growth arteries. In coming months, we’ll have more to say about our progress on the Roads of National Significance.
Reining in Electricity Prices
Under Labour, electricity prices rose about three times faster than inflation. That’s just not on. And that’s why we’ve introduced a new bill into Parliament to put in place many of the recommendations of the Ministerial Review Group into the electricity market.
The changes are designed to improve the security of our electricity supply, boost competition in the market, and rein in increases to the family power bill. Since the review began, price rises have flattened. I hope that trend will continue.
Celebrating Waitangi Day
National wants a harmonious New Zealand where all Kiwis respect each other. That’s one of the reasons why Cabinet has approved the flying of a national Maori flag from Auckland Harbour Bridge, Premier House, and some other sites on Waitangi Day. The Maori flag won’t replace the New Zealand flag. It will fly alongside it, to celebrate Waitangi Day and recognise the partnership which the Crown and Maori entered into when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi.
Best wishes
John Key
Prime Minister
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18 December 2009
New Zealand statement - Climate Change
New Zealand statement to the Joint High-level segment of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the Conference of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol
Madam President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
New Zealand came to Copenhagen with great hope of achieving a binding agreement that had developed and developing countries working together to respond to the challenges of climate change.
We thank the Danish Government for their generous hospitality and huge effort to help achieve this end.
It is sobering to have reached this point of the conference without having made progress on the major issues necessary for a comprehensive, effective, and legally binding global climate change agreement.
The global deal
Any new climate change deal must shift from a system of limited participation to comprehensive global coverage.
For this to be achieved, we need international commitments from all major emitters that accommodate diverse national approaches to mitigation and adaptation.
At this conference we need leadership from the major economies; they need to listen to the voices of vulnerable nations that are facing the harsh realties of climate change.
For New Zealand we are acutely aware of the challenge climate change poses for our pacific island neighbours.
A clear and firm signal must be sent to the world. We must change attitudes, drive low-carbon development, spur innovation and deployment of technologies, and influence priorities for finance and investment.
A new global deal must be durable - with in-built capacity to evolve over time - to keep up with scientific knowledge, technological breakthroughs, and economic and social development.
Undoubtedly, as this conference has demonstrated, the scope of the challenge is enormous.
New Zealand actions
New Zealand is committed to doing its fair share in the global effort, including taking responsibility for emissions reductions and contributing to international finance and technology support.
New Zealand's emissions profile is heavily influenced by agriculture and forestry, and our efforts include a special focus on these sectors.
We are the only country in the world that has introduced an emissions trading scheme covering all greenhouse gases and all sectors of the economy, including agriculture and forestry.
At the international level, we are advocates of setting the right accounting rules for the agriculture and forestry sectors.
Rules are essential for ensuring environmental integrity and for giving countries the confidence to set ambitious targets.
The wrong rules could significantly undermine New Zealand's future as a food producer to the world for no environmental gain.
We must also avoid inefficient rules that constrain the carbon market. An open, global carbon market is crucial for maximising global emissions reductions.
Agriculture and the Global Research Alliance
Globally, agricultural emissions equate to those from every car, truck, train, aeroplane and ship yet have received insufficient attention and very little research focus.
We have long been leaders in agricultural technology and efficiency. We are unique among developed countries as agricultural production is the backbone of our economy and accounts for half of our emissions.
Food security is a priority for all countries. The world population is projected to reach nine billion by 2050. To support this number of people, world food production needs to double.
That is why yesterday New Zealand launched with 20 partner countries, including the US and India, a new Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gasses.
The Alliance brings developed and developing countries together on the dual challenges of food security and climate change.
The Alliance will allow countries to better coordinate, collaborate on, and fund research into mitigation solutions for the agricultural sector.
New Zealand has been delighted with the support for the concept received so far, and looks forward to advancing the Alliance in partnership with other countries.
Mr President, after years of planning for this conference and now weeks of talking here in Copenhagen, the time has finally come for leaders to reach an agreement.
Now is the time for us to set aside our differences and to collectively map a pathway forward.
Now is the time for every country to give a little, so we as a world can gain a lot.
Progress will require commitment, compromise and cash.
But now is the time for us all to face the reality: that of all the options on the table at Copenhagen, failure is the one we can all least afford.
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16 December 2009
Video Journal No.20
In his last video blog for 2009 John talks about some upcoming events - including his trip to Copenhagen for the Climate Change Conference - and wishes everyone, particularly those who have recently lost loved ones, a safe and happy holiday season.
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14 December 2009
Press Conference - Post Cabinet 14 December
14 December. Press conference following Cabinet. John Key announces that the Government has agreed upon a Maori flag to fly alongside the official Government flag on Waitangi Day. Following that, he announces details of Prince William's impending (January 17-19) visit to New Zealand and his own plans for travel to the climate change conference in Copenhagen. He goes on to discuss the upcoming half year Treasury report and action pending in the House before it rises for the year on Wednesday. The Prime Minister's announcements are followed by questions from the press.
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14 December 2009
PM releases details of Prince William's visit
Prime Minister John Key has released details of next month's visit by Prince William.
After arriving in Auckland on Sunday,17 January, Prince William will visit Eden Park to see the redevelopment work and be briefed on plans for the Rugby World Cup.
He will also go sailing on the Waitemata Harbour on the America's Cup yacht NZL40 and enjoy a hangi at Government House.
Prince William will fly to Wellington on Monday, 18 January, where he will represent the Queen at the opening of the new Supreme Court building.
Other activities in Wellington include a wreath laying at the National War Memorial in Buckle St, a barbeque hosted by the Prime Minister at Premier House, and a visit to Wellington Children's Hospital.
Members of the public will have a chance to see Prince William when he does a walkabout after the Supreme Court opening.
Prince William will leave for Australia on Tuesday, 19 January.
