Yesterday, together with the Minister of Education, I welcomed the introduction of National Standards in literacy and numeracy into New Zealand’s Year 1-8 schools.

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To mark this important milestone I’ve written to around 350,000 households to draw their attention to National Standards and to explain what they mean for young New Zealanders. The letter is accompanied by a brochure which clearly explains what National Standards are about and how they will affect children and schools.

I encourage you to read this information, to find out what National Standards may mean for your children and your local schools, and to pass this information on to anyone with an interest in New Zealand’s education system.

In addition, over the next few weeks, National Party MPs will be holding public meetings up and down the country to talk directly to parents about this important policy. I also encourage you to attend one of these meetings in your local electorate.

National Standards are a core part of National’s plan for securing the brighter future we campaigned on. Because while this country is home to some of the best schools, teachers and students in the world, New Zealand has, for too long, let too many children slip through the cracks.

I am simply not prepared to tolerate up to one in five New Zealand children leaving our schools without the literacy and numeracy skills they need to succeed.

National Standards will ensure that all parents, not just the lucky few, can expect their school to regularly test their children against national benchmarks in reading, writing and maths. They will ensure all parents have this information reported to them in plain-language. And they will ensure all parents are properly informed about what is being done to support their child’s progress.

New Zealand deserves a future with more highly-skilled citizens, who have better job prospects, greater life choices, and, in turn, who live in a society with less dysfunction, unemployment, welfare dependence and crime.

I see our education system as one of the fundamental tools for delivering this brighter future.

That’s why this Government is working hard to ensure National Standards deliver for the benefit of our young people, our economy and for the future of New Zealand.

If you have any further questions you want answered about National Standards don’t hesitate to e-mail us on nationalstandards@parliament.govt.nz.

Best wishes


John Key
Prime Minister

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It’s great to be back on deck after a few weeks’ break. I hope you managed to get a bit of time off over Christmas and find some decent weather.

We’ve had a busy start to 2010 with our first Cabinet meeting of the year, and the visit of Prince William.

I really enjoyed meeting the Prince and spending some time with him at official events while he was here. His visit provided a tangible sense of our ongoing links to the monarchy, and a great chance for New Zealanders to see and get to know this fine young man. And it really added to the official opening of the Supreme Court.

See photos from Prince William’s visit here.

THREE STRIKES – SAFER COMMUNITIES FOR KIWI FAMILIES

Click here to watch my policy update video.

On Tuesday I announced that National and Act have agreed on law changes that ensure the country’s worst repeat violent offenders will receive the maximum allowable sentence for their crimes.

The new sentencing regime in our Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill includes a “three-strikes” policy. This will target violent offenders who show continued disregard for the law. 

The first offence will bring a standard sentence and warning. The second offence will bring a jail sentence, in most cases, with no parole and a further warning. The third offence, will result in the offender being given the maximum sentence in jail for the crime, with no parole.

The new regime will help keep the worst repeat offenders behind bars for longer. It will also deter criminals from committing further crime by escalating the severity of their sentences.

National is determined to make our communities safer for Kiwi families. We are determined to reduce the number of crime victims. And we are determined to make life tougher for violent criminals. The Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill is an important step towards that goal.

BUILDING A WORLD-CLASS TAX SYSTEM

Last year National managed to guide New Zealand through the global recession while living up to our election commitments. In 2010, we’re focused on unleashing New Zealand’s potential for growth, and lifting the wages of New Zealanders.

On Wednesday, the Tax Working-Group issued its report on New Zealand’s tax system. The report identifies several issues with the structure, coherence, and sustainability of the current tax system. It also puts forward some options to fix them.

Tax policy can play an important role in lifting economic growth and productivity. We want to make sure our tax system rewards effort, encourages savings, and helps families to get ahead. Fairness is a big part of that. We will carefully consider the Working-Group’s report as part of our decision-making for Budget 2010.

BOOSTING TOURISM IN OUR REGIONS

Yesterday I announced that eight tourism marketing groups around the country will share $5 million in tourism funding to market their regions. This will be matched with funding from Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) and the private sector to create a $10 million marketing fund, aimed largely at Australia.

This joint venture fund will see RTOs and Tourism NZ working together to maximise their marketing impact. It’s a great opportunity for our regions to use their distinctive selling points to attract Australian visitors, while tying their marketing in with our 100% Pure brand.

FROM THE DIARY

I really enjoyed spending some time in Christchurch yesterday, officially opening AMI Stadium. Stadium Christchurch – as it will be known for the 2011 Rugby World Cup – is the first of New Zealand’s major stadiums to complete redevelopment for the tournament.

I also visited QEII stadium one year out from the 2011 International Paralympic World Championships. As patron, I’m looking forward to the Championships and to watching our disabled athletes compete with the very best paralympians in the world.

I’m in Ratana today with several Cabinet ministers and National MPs, to celebrate the life of Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana and the birth of the Ratana movement.

On Sunday I’ll be at the Aotea Centre in Auckland to mark the 60th anniversary of India’s Republic Day with some of our Indian communities, before heading to the Trans-Tasman Touch Rugby tournament at Waitakere’s Trusts Stadium.

Best wishes

John Key
Prime Minister

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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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Tackling Boy Racers

At midnight on Monday, two new street racing laws came into effect. These give police, the courts, and councils new tools to crack down on boy racers.

They allow repeated “cruising” of city streets to be banned by bylaws. They introduce demerit points for noise offences. And they give the police new powers to impound, seize, sell, or crush the cars of repeat street-racing offenders.

These new laws send a strong message that we won’t tolerate dangerous, disruptive, and anti-social behaviour on our streets. They are part of National’s focus on making our communities safer for families.

Improving Trans-Tasman Travel

Yesterday I tried out the new SmartGate at Auckland International Airport. It’s a pretty neat piece of technology.

I swiped my e-passport at a kiosk. The kiosk used a camera and face recognition software to check my identity. Once it was happy that I was who my passport said I was, it opened the gate to let me through.

SmartGate will make travel easier and faster for people crossing the Tasman. Instead of having your passport checked by a Customs officer, SmartGate will confirm your identity and let you get out of the airport more quickly. This will allow Customs officers to focus their efforts on higher-risk passengers. SmartGates will be up and running at Wellington and Christchurch airports next year.

Strengthening Links in the Commonwealth

On Wednesday night I got back from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Highlights included an audience with the Queen, and toasting Her Majesty at the formal dinner. I told her how much New Zealanders are looking forward to welcoming Prince William here in the new year.

I also had the chance to sit down with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. We had a very good discussion about how we can work towards a free trade agreement between our two counties.

CHOGM had a major focus on climate change. Many of the Commonwealth’s 54 countries have large agricultural sectors, and it was good to discuss our plans for a Global Alliance to research how to cut agricultural greenhouse emissions. National is focused on balancing our economic opportunities with our environmental responsibilities, and we see the Global Alliance as an important way of boosting food production while cutting emissions from farm animals.

Commonwealth countries will make a big contribution to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this month. Since CHOGM, I’ve announced that I’ll be attending the Leaders Meeting at the end of the conference.

Boosting Broadband in Schools

Another 100 schools are set to get Information and Communications Technology (ICT) upgrades. The upgrades are the latest round of our $150 million boost for high-speed broadband in schools, which is part of the Government’s $1.5 billion broadband investment. Over the next six years, up to 2000 schools will be upgraded. This will give teachers and students in almost every classroom in New Zealand the capability to access ultra-fast broadband.

Making Auckland Greater

Yesterday, the Government released decisions on the final piece of legislation to complete the changes to Auckland’s governance, and establish the Auckland Council. Earlier legislation laid out the structure of the new council and the Local Boards, and defined the powers and roles of the mayor, councillors, and local board members. This bill sets out the nuts and bolts of how the Auckland Council will work. A select committee will hear public submissions on these changes in the New Year.

Giving Doctors and Nurses More Say in Running our Hospitals

We’ve previously announced that the Government is establishing a new National Health Board. The board will work to improve frontline health services and get better value from the $10 billion in public funding that our 21 district health boards spend on hospitals and primary care. This week we announced that seven of the 11 members of the board will be doctors and nurses. We believe that giving clinical professionals more say in how our health system operates will help improve frontline health services for patients, and provide better healthcare for all New Zealanders.

Blogging National MPs

Several National MPs are blogging on issues and events in their local communities at a new website, www.nationalmps.co.nz. I’ll be blogging about some of my activities in Helensville. We welcome your comments.

Best wishes,

John Key
Prime Minister
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Tackling Boy Racers

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BOOSTING TRADE

Last weekend I was in Singapore for the APEC Summit, and I had the chance to catch up with US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pictured), as well as other Pacific leaders.

Just before the Summit, President Obama announced that the United States would engage with the Trans Pacific Partnership. This is very good news. The Partnership is a group of eight Pacific nations – including New Zealand – working towards a free trade agreement. The potential gains for our exporters, the economy, and jobs from such an agreement are enormous.

SECURING A BRIGHTER FUTURE

A year ago, the new Government was sworn into office.

I remember the awesome feeling of responsibility as I took my oath.

New Zealand welcomed in a fresh team. We were ready to strengthen our economy, raise education, make our communities safer, and get more out of our health system.

Today, in Christchuch, I gave a speech marking our first anniversary in government. I described how we are delivering on our election promises and working hard on the issues that matter to you.

We’ve already achieved a lot.

We've cut taxes, boosted the number of police on the beat, increased the amount of elective surgery being performed, introduced National Standards in literacy and numeracy, accelerated new roading projects (not to mention a national cycleway), and provided support to small businesses hit by the recession.

Click here to read my opinion piece on the anniversary.

Click on the links below to read short summaries of our achievements in:

• The Economy
• Law and Order
• Education
• Health

LOOKING AHEAD

I’m hugely optimistic about New Zealand’s prospects as we come out of the recession. We have so much going for us. We produce some of the best food in the world. We’ve got beautiful scenery that tourists love to visit. We’re part of this century’s economic powerhouse region – Asia – and home to some of the smartest, hardest-working, and most creative people in the world.

Our mission is to unlock this potential.

I want to see our farmers and exporters producing more and getting better prices for their goods overseas. I want to see our tourism industry growing, and attracting bigger-spending tourists all year round. I want to see more of our Kiwi entrepreneurs selling their goods and ideas to the world so they can expand their businesses and provide new and better paying jobs.

And I want to see more of our young people realising their potential here rather than overseas.

So I’ve tasked Government ministers with working on the key drivers needed to realise these ambitions. They are about:

1. Ensuring our tax system encourages people to work hard, save, and invest in productive Kiwi businesses.

2. Focusing the Government’s activity on better, smarter, frontline services, rather than waste and backroom bureaucracy.

3. Providing all New Zealanders with the education and skills they need to perform productive well-paid jobs.

4. Building the transport, broadband, and other infrastructure networks that people and businesses need to get their jobs done as efficiently as possible.

5. Removing the red tape and cumbersome regulation that can prevent businesses from expanding, taking on new workers, and making the most of new ideas.

6. Supporting Kiwi firms to grow and develop new ideas by connecting them with our researchers and scientists, and helping them reach more global consumers by signing free trade agreements with our trading partners.

That’s a huge programme of work over many areas.

As a Government, it’s a matter of rolling our sleeves up, focusing on the issues that matter and, in some cases, making some difficult decisions.

By creating the right conditions, we can give people the confidence to work hard, invest in a business, and take up new opportunities. New Zealanders want to do that. And we were elected to represent them.

They are the people we swore an oath to serve. And they are the people this Government works for every day.

Together we can realise the brighter future this country deserves.

Read my full speech and comment here.

Best wishes

John Key
Prime Minister
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